Towards an Efficient and Effective Supreme Court
A glimpse into the functioning of the Supreme Court
Following up from Vidhi’s Consultation Paper on the Supreme Court’s Burgeoning Backlog released last year on the functioning of the Supreme Court of India, Vidhi has gathered data of about 49000 cases relating to 2014 which provides a glimpse into the functioning of the Supreme Court. This data shows the preponderance of Special Leave Petitions in the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, the relatively high likelihood of the Supreme Court entertaining such matters and the disproportionate contribution of the Central Government in certain kinds of litigation.
We had also spoken to and consulted with stakeholders about the problems being faced by the Supreme Court in its functioning and solicited their opinions on the suggestions being put forth by Vidhi. Their views and feedback on the research presented in the consultation paper and suggestions for reform have informed this particular report.
While creating a National Court of Appeals may not be a feasible solution in light of the challenges of passing constitutional amendments and testing it against the basic structure doctrine, there are nevertheless a range of measures which may be undertaken by the Court to mitigate its backlog problem and bring its constitutional functions to the fore. This report lists out all these suggestions and how they should be implemented by the Court.
The raw data which has been collected as part of this Paper is available here. We request you to duly credit Vidhi if you use this data in your research.
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About the Authors
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology. He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.
Ameen was a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, and led the Centre for Applied Law and Technology Research (ALTR). His interest and research focus lies in AI ethics, and the governance of AI. Within ALTR, he has been leading the team's collaborative research on data trusts, and artificial intelligence. Ameen has also worked on the intersection of technology and the justice system, as a senior fellow working on the JALDI mission's engagement with the Supreme Court of India's AI and E-Courts' committees. Ameen has a formal educational background in social research methods and evidence-based policy. He completed his master’s programme from the Institute of Education (University College London), focusing on the use of research evidence in policy processes, and was awarded an MSc. with an overall distinction. Before this, he completed his undergraduate legal studies from the W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences [B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)] in 2012. Prior to Vidhi, Ameen worked at J. Sagar Associates, in the firm’s regulatory and policy team. He has practised in the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court, and numerous tribunals.
