judicial pendency reduction plan

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has constituted four special Supreme Court benches to exclusively hear some of the institution’s oldest pending civil and criminal cases. Around 800 long-pending matters have initially been identified for expedited disposal under the new roster. Supreme Court Special Benches Begin Hearings The revised roster came into effect on July 13 as the Supreme Court resumed full functioning after its partial summer working schedule. Two division benches headed by Justices P.K. Mishra and S.V.N. Bhatti will hear the oldest civil matters. Two other benches led by Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan will focus exclusively on the oldest criminal cases. The special benches will take up these matters on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which are classified as non-miscellaneous hearing days. Around 800 Old Cases Identified Nearly 200 cases have been assigned to each of the four benches at the initial stage. The arrangement is intended to provide continuous judicial attention to cases that have remained unresolved for several years or even decades. Older cases often face repeated delays because of changing bench rosters, urgent hearings and competing court priorities. The dedicated roster seeks to reduce those disruptions and accelerate final decisions. Supreme Court Targets Case Backlog The Supreme Court currently has more than 95,000 pending cases, including over 74,000 civil matters and more than 21,000 criminal cases. CJI Surya Kant said delayed cases affect public confidence in the justice system and stressed that the age of a case should not become a reason for its continued neglect. The initiative forms part of a broader effort to address judicial pendency through structured docket management, dedicated hearings and alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.

CJI Forms Benches for Oldest Supreme Court Cases

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