Supreme Court disposes of more than 52K cases in 2023

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court was able to dispose of 52,191 cases, from January 1 to December 15, 2023.

As per a report released by the apex court, the disposed of cases were more in comparison to the total of registered cases, which stood at 49,191.

"Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr D.Y. Chandrachud had a blueprint for disposal of cases and on the basis of his vision and concerted efforts by his team i.e. the Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges that this disposal could be achieved," it said.

The report added that CJI Chandrachud streamlined the timeframe required for filing to the listing of the matters and in his tenure, this timeline was reduced to within 7 to 5 days after verification of the matter.

"In certain matters such as bail, Habeas Corpus, eviction matters, demolition, and anticipatory bail, the matters were processed in one day and listed in courts immediately thereafter keeping in view the Right to liberty at the highest pedestal," it highlighted.

Additionally, the Supreme Court actively streamlined the flow of cases and expedited the resolution of legal disputes and specialised benches were constituted to handle specific categories of cases, leading to a more specialised and efficient adjudication process, it said.

The report said that in one of the instances, 392 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) cases were disposed of by the court in a single instance and a number of courts disposed of batch matters after their identification.

Three judges' benches were constituted which sat for 166 sittings and dealt with important three judge bench matters and references, it said.

"Five judges and seven judges benches were also constituted wherein 2 seven judge matters were heard and in one of the cases, judgment was reserved and in the other, the judgment was pronounced. Important matters like In Re Section 370, arbitration matters relating to stamped documents and their admissibility, Heavy Motor Vehicles being driven on normal licenses, settling tussle between Delhi Government and Centre, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Matter, Rights of LGBTQ, and other important matters have been duly heard and pronounced," the report said.

It added that 5 judge constitution bench matters has been reduced from 36 to 19 (in 4 matters, judgment is reserved), six matters pertaining to 7 judges, 5 matters of 9 Judges and in all these matters dates have been notified for hearing.

"No case is big or small when the same is filed before the Apex Court of the country.….The figures above are a testament to the fact that the Supreme Court Judges have duly delivered in imparting justice wherein they have been able to match up disposal vis a vis filing," the conclusion of the report said.