Pending cases in the Supreme Court reduce by over 400 cases in August 2024

August 2024 closed with 82,887 cases. This is 425 cases less compared to July 2024 where pendency stood at 83,312 cases.

This is the second month in a row where the number of pending cases decreased in the Supreme Court’s docket. However, the drop in pendency is about half of what was recorded in July 2024 where cases dropped by over 900 cases.

While news outlets have widely reported that pendency hit an all time high in August, data shows that the highest number of pending cases was in June this year. June was the only month in 2024 so far when pendency crossed 84,000 cases. This can be attributed to the seven-week long vacation that the Court took between 20 May and 7 July 2024.

Month-wise Pendency at the Supreme Court in 2024

Figure 1 presents a monthly breakdown of pending cases in the Supreme Court starting from January to August 2024. 

The year opened with 80,439 cases. By the end of January, this dropped to 80, 221 cases. In February, the number of pending cases fell below the 80,000 mark. February stands as an exception this year, as every month after that, closed with more than 80,000 cases. After it hit its peak in June, the number of pending cases appears to be gradually reducing. 

The number of pending cases dropped by 900 from June to July. As August closed, pendency marginally reduced by over 400 cases. 

In August, the Court operated for 18 days with four national holidays. In contrast July had 17 working days, but the Court appears to have made a stronger dent in pendency that month. In August, the Court functioned at a full sanctioned strength of 34 judges. 

The Court’s efforts in clearing pendency does not appear to bear strong results. This may be attributed to a high number of cases being instituted in the Court everyday. The Court’s disposal rate may be impressive (as we saw in February), but a continuous addition of numerous petitions can drag the net figure down. Recently, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also expressed concern that the daunting pendency figure cannot be tackled just at the top. He called for stronger infrastructure, and the rapid filling of vacancies in the subordinate courts stating, “Despite progress, tackling pending cases remains a challenge. Increasing our disposal-to-filing ratio hinges on attracting skilled personnel. At district level, vacancies in judicial personnel stand at 28% and of non-judicial staff at 27%. For disposal to outweigh the institution of cases, courts must work beyond the capacity of 71-100%.”

Pendency of Constitution Bench cases in August 2024

Figure 2 illustrates the number of Constitution Bench cases pending in the Supreme Court. The donut on the left shows the number of main pending matters whereas the donut on the right shows the tagged matters pending in the Court. Tagged matters are cleared once main matters are decided. 

Constitution Bench Pendency has reduced by one seven-judge bench case. In August, the Supreme Court decided the challenge to states’ power to create sub-classifications within SC/ST categories. 

Under Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the Supreme Court has seen a steady stream of Constitution Bench cases being heard throughout the year. Constitution Bench pendency will likely reduce further once judgements are delivered in other Constitution Bench cases.