Delhi lower courts have 15.6 lakh cases pending, only 700 judges to hear them
Delhi's lower courts spread across the Capital have a pendency of 15.6 lakh cases (13.5 lakh criminal and 2.18 lakh civil), data on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) shows — and these numbers are rising.
A years-long wait for justice is the reality for most who encounter the lower judiciary in Delhi. Several independent reports and the judiciary’s own data show that cases are piling up as rising judicial backlog begets more pendency.
Delhi’s lower courts spread across the Capital have a pendency of 15.6 lakh cases (13.5 lakh criminal and 2.18 lakh civil), data on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) shows — and these numbers are rising.
There are a little over 700 judges in the Capital which means that each is dealing with an average pendency of 2,200 cases.
What is behind this massive pendency in the NCT of Delhi which has a population of around 30 million?
New cases rising faster than disposal
The number of cases being disposed of is rising rapidly even as the number of judges remains relatively constant. While 3.78 lakh cases were disposed of in 2018, this figure jumped to 7.96 lakh in 2024. During the same time, however, the institution of cases more than doubled from 4.84 lakhs to 10.2 lakhs.
From 2018 to 2025, the average gap between cases instituted and disposed of every year was 1.3 lakh. This means that while Delhi’s courts are rapidly disposing of many cases, many more are being instituted.
Most cases which haven’t been disposed are newly instituted
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Most cases that are pending have been instituted recently — two thirds of all pending cases have been instituted in 2023 to 2025. Another 94% of all cases have been instituted from 2018 onwards. Years preceding 2017 accounted for just 6% of all pending cases. Two cases which are the oldest in Delhi date back to 1969.
Everyday, close to 28,000 cases are being heard by about 700 judges in the Capital. This translates into 40 cases per judge on average. Some judges have a pendency of over 10,000 cases and hear over 150 cases per day while others have a pendency of just 60 and hear only four to five cases per day. This is because of the nature of the cases assigned to different courtsCourts which exclusively hear cheque bounce cases are hearing over 120 cases on average everyday. Cases like these are supposed to be disposed of in six months as per law. However, due to a large pendency, two hearings are a year apart. On the other hand, one court is exclusively hearing only one case linked to the 34,000 crores Dewan Housing Finance limited (DHFL) bank “fraud”.
Reasons for delay
While 3.26 lakh cases (20% of all) are pending because a “counsel is not available”, according to data on the NJDG, another 2.23 lakh (14%) are pending because they have been stayed. Over 25,000 are pending (1.5%) as the accused is absconding. Over 1.3% are pending as documents are awaited and slightly less than 1% (13,600) are pending as witnesses are awaited.
Types of cases that are pending
According to multiple statistical reports accessed by the Indian Express, rape, murder (including culpable homicide) account for less than 1% of pending cases.
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Cheque bounce cases (over 5.5 lakh) and cases being heard by digital traffic courts (over 1.5 lakh), related mostly to settling of challans, account for a whopping 47% of all pending cases.
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Approximate gap in disposal vs institution
2017: 1 lakh
2018: 1.2 lakh
2019: 1 lakh
2020: 1 lakh
2021: 1.3 lakh
2022: 2 lakh
2023: 0.6 lakh
2024: 2.2 lakh
2025: 1.2 lakh
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Total cases pending
Criminal: 13.5 lakh
Civil: 2.18 lakh s
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Reasons for delay
Counsel not available: 3.26 lakh (20%)
Stayed: 2.23 lakh (14%)
Accused absconding: 25.5 k (1.5%)
Awaiting documents: 20.9 k (1.3%)
Awaiting witnesses: 13.6 k (0.9%)
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Types of cases pending
37% Cheque bounce
10% Settling of challans at digital traffic courts
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More
