Pending Contempt Cases Overwhelm Indian Courts: A Legal Challenge

Over 1,800 contempt cases are pending in the Supreme Court, with 143 lakh in high courts, as revealed to the Lok Sabha. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal highlighted these figures, attributing case resolution responsibility to respective ministries. Reasons for non-compliance remain unspecified.

More than 1,800 contempt cases are currently pending in the Supreme Court, alongside another staggering 143 lakh cases awaiting resolution in various high courts, as revealed during a Lok Sabha session on Friday.

In a written response, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal provided data indicating the backlog: 1,852 contempt cases were pending in the Supreme Court as of March 20. Moreover, the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) reports 1,43,573 such cases in high courts as of March 24.

The reasons for the delay in compliance with court orders remain unclear, according to Meghwal. He noted that the implementation of these judicial orders is the responsibility of respective administrative ministries and departments within the government.

(With inputs from agencies.)