KARSTEN MIRANDA
MARGAO: The judicial crisis in Goa extends beyond just the District and Subordinate Courts, as revealed by data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) and previous information shared by the Union Law & Judiciary Ministry in the Lok Sabha.
According to the recommended judge-to-population ratio of 50 judges per million citizens, Goa, with its population of approximately 15 million, should have a sanctioned strength of 72 judges across all levels of the judiciary. However, the state currently functions with just 44 judges — 3 at the High Court level and 41 at the District and Subordinate Court levels, falling significantly short of the national recommendation.
The situation at the High Court of Bombay at Goa further illustrates the judicial crisis. Real-time statistics from the NJDG show 5,837 cases pending at the High Court level alone, with an alarming 78% of these cases pending for over a year. Even more concerning, 15% of these cases have remained unresolved for more than a decade.
Of the pending High Court cases, 5,210 are civil matters and 627 are criminal proceedings. Breaking down the civil case backlog by age reveals a troubling pattern: approximately 22% of cases are 1-3 years old, 5% are 3-5 years old, 36% have been pending for 5-10 years, and 15% have remained unresolved for over 10 years.
The criminal case distribution shows a similar trend, with approximately 12% of cases pending for 1-3 years, 17% for 3-5 years, and 12% for 5-10 years. While the exact percentage of criminal cases pending for over 10 years isn’t specified in the data, it appears to be approximately 1%, as 99% of cases in this oldest category are civil matters.
Despite these challenges, the High Court has shown some progress in case disposal, having resolved 232 cases in the past month (210 civil and 22 criminal) and 517 cases in the current year (445 civil and 72 criminal). However, this disposal rate appears insufficient to significantly reduce the substantial backlog that continues to delay justice for thousands of Goans.
When combined with the nearly 60,000 pending cases in the District and Subordinate Courts, the total judicial backlog across Goa stands at approximately 65,837 cases, with an especially concerning situation at the High Court level where over 15% of cases have remained unresolved for more than a decade.