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Litigations disposed of this year by the Supreme Court included 18,449 criminal matters. (File)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court said today it has disposed of more cases than the number of litigations registered this year, indicating it has been able to clear its backlog that remains a long-standing problem of the judiciary. It disposed of 52,191 cases till December 15 as against 49,191 registered this year with the Supreme Court describing it as a “watershed moment in the nation’s legal history”.

“In another achievement, the Supreme Court of India has been able to dispose of 52,191 cases starting from 1 January 2023 to 15 December 2023, which includes 45,642 Miscellaneous matters and around 6,549 regular matters. The total disposal in the year 2023 stands at 52,191 in comparison to the total registration of cases which was 49,191,” said the court.

Litigations disposed of this year included 18,449 criminal matters, 10,348 ordinary civil matters and 4,410 service matters.

The Supreme Court had disposed of 39,800 cases in 2022, 24,586 in 2021, and 20,670 in 2020, showed court data.

The court credited the judiciary’s proactive approach along with the adoption of technology and strategic reforms for the efficient justice delivery.

“This achievement not only reflects the resilience and adaptability of the Indian legal system but also reaffirms the judiciary’s commitment to upholding the principles of justice in a rapidly evolving world,” the court said.

The disposal is highest in terms of numbers since Integrated Case Management Information System (ICMIS) was implemented in 2017.

No case is big or small before the Supreme Court and every case is covered by the principle of Stare Decisis, the court said, referring to the legal principle of determining points in litigation according to precedent.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had a blueprint for disposal of cases and he streamlined the timeframe required for filing to the listing, the court said.

“In his tenure, there was a paradigm shift in the filing to the listing of the cases where in place of 10 days, from listing to filing the same was reduced to within 7 to 5 days of listing after verification of the matter,” it added.

The court said that certain matters pertaining to bail, habeas corpus, eviction matters, demolition, and anticipatory bail were processed in a single day and listed immediately.

For the first time, the court listed 2,262 matters involving human liberty during the vacation (May 22-July 2) and disposed of 780 such cases.