Madhya Pradesh High Court Has 4.78 Lakh Pending Cases, 15 Judge Posts Vacant

The Madhya Pradesh High Court is facing a growing burden of pending cases, with nearly 4.78 lakh matters awaiting disposal while 15 of the sanctioned judicial posts remain vacant. Of the 53 posts sanctioned for judges, only 38 are currently filled. The working judges include Chief Justice Alpesh Yashwant Kokje.

The shortage of judges has added to the challenge of clearing the large number of pending cases. With limited judicial capacity available, the court is required to handle a substantial volume of matters with fewer judges than its sanctioned strength.

According to the available figures, around 4.78 lakh cases are pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Since 38 judges are currently working, the average comes to 12,573 pending cases per judge. This average has been calculated by dividing the total number of pending cases by the number of serving judges.

However, the actual distribution of cases may vary from judge to judge. It can depend on the bench assigned to each judge and the workload handled by that bench. Therefore, the average figure does not mean that every judge has exactly the same number of pending cases.

The High Court has a sanctioned strength of 53 judges, but 15 of these posts are vacant. This means judges are currently working against around 72 per cent of the sanctioned strength. The vacant positions have kept the pressure on the court for hearing cases and dealing with pending matters.

A large number of pending cases can affect the time taken by litigants to get justice. Parties involved in criminal, civil and other legal disputes may have to wait for a longer period for their cases to be heard. The pending matters therefore remain a challenge for the court’s judicial functioning.

Filling the vacant posts could increase the judicial capacity available for hearing cases. If all 15 vacant posts are filled, the total number of working judges would reach the sanctioned strength of 53.

This could improve the capacity available for hearings and help the court deal with its pending cases. However, the actual pace at which the cases are disposed of would depend on several factors. These include the nature of the cases, the number of new cases being filed and the way the court functions.

The figures highlight the scale of the workload before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. With 4.78 lakh cases pending and 15 judicial posts vacant, clearing the backlog remains a major challenge for the court.