Rank states based on case-clearance rate to encourage faster dispute resolution: CII

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) CII on Sunday called for "urgent reforms" to address the burgeoning pendency of cases across India, suggesting that the National Judicial Data Grid could report real-time automated rankings of states on the basis of case-clearance rate to encourage faster dispute resolution.

With over 5 crore cases pending across various courts and case disposal rates lagging behind the new admissions in many jurisdictions, urgent reforms are required to address the burgeoning pendency of cases, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) stated.

It termed the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) an an important initiative towards reducing pendency by enabling data-driven policy interventions.

With a view to fostering competitive spirit among states, NJDG could report real-time automated rankings of states based on the data collected on grid, the industry body said.

Ranking could subsequently be considered at more disaggregated levels, like for commercial and non-commercial cases, separately.

"To begin with, the rankings could be considered on the basis of case-clearance rate (ratio of case disposals to case admissions), averaged over completed months for a calendar year, which could be provided retrospectively for past 5-10 years. This would encourage states to streamline their dispute resolution processes, adopt best practices and drive judicial reforms," CII recommended.

The NJDG was launched in 2015 under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project to track, manage, and reduce case pendency across India's judicial system.

In the World Bank Group's Doing Business Report 2020, India was ranked 163rd out of 190 economies on this crucial parameter.

By enabling real-time, data-driven policy intervention, NJDG could accelerate dispute resolution, strengthen judicial efficiency, and foster a more investment-friendly business environment, CII said.

NJDG is a publicly accessible portal, providing judicial data on key performance indicators, such as case institution, pendency and disposal, etc, across the formal court system in the country.

It aims to promote transparency, accessibility, and accountability while supporting evidence-based judicial reforms.

India's rapid growth and urbanisation have led to a surge in disputes, overwhelming the capacity of the judicial system.

While the grid is already immensely useful, it must continue to evolve in its scope, coverage and quality to facilitate an even more effective informed policymaking in the space of judicial system spread intricately across length and breadth of the country, according to CII.

Positioning the grid as a transformative tool for facilitating expeditious dispute resolution, CII has outlined various recommendations to enhance its effectiveness.

It believes there is a need for introducing greater degree of specifies in categorisation of disputes in a manner that they are linked to their respective statutes and legal provisions.

At present, certain courts do not report case statistics, resulting in an underestimation of pendency in a state. A case in point is Tamil Nadu, which reports only 15 pending commercial cases at district level on NJDG as against the actual number estimated to be around 5,000.

Further, the scope of NJDG needs to be enhanced to capture time-taken at each procedural stage of litigation.

While Grid currently tracks stages such as admission, hearing, final arguments, and judgment for pending civil and criminal cases, it does not indicate how long cases remain pending at each of these stages. Introducing time-based metrics would enable a more precise analysis of judicial delays and targeted corrective policy actions, CII added.