Data · How to Read It
How to Read Court Pendency Statistics in India (2026)
Court pendency statistics are everywhere in the news, and they are easy to get wrong. A figure quoted without a date, a disposal count mistaken for judgments on merits, or two different snapshots compared as if they were the same series can all turn a real number into a misleading claim. This page gives a short, practical method for reading India’s pendency data correctly, and shows how to pull a dated, sourced figure from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) for yourself. Last verified October 2026.
- Five terms: pendency, institution, disposal, clearance rate and case age.
- Golden rule: no figure travels without its date and source.
- Primary source: the live NJDG at njdg.ecourts.gov.in, refreshed close to daily.
- Biggest trap: treating a disposal as a judgment on merits, or comparing two different snapshots.
01Know the five core terms
Almost every pendency story uses the same handful of terms. Get these right and most confusion disappears.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pendency | The stock of cases awaiting a decision at a point in time. |
| Institution | New cases filed in a period (the inflow). |
| Disposal | Cases closed in a period, by judgment, settlement, withdrawal or transfer (the outflow). |
| Clearance rate | Disposal divided by institution, as a percentage. Above 100% shrinks the backlog. |
| Case age | How long a pending case has already been waiting, shown in brackets such as under 1 year, 1 to 3 years, and so on. |
For deeper treatment, see institution versus disposal and the case disposal rate.
02The traps to avoid
- No date. Pendency changes continuously. A number without “as on <date>” is close to useless.
- Disposal is not a verdict. Disposed cases include settlements, withdrawals and transfers, not only decisions on merits. See pending, disposed and withdrawn cases.
- Matters are not disputes. One dispute can spawn several connected matters, so a high count does not mean as many separate fights.
- Mixing sources. A parliamentary reply and an NJDG reading can differ because they snapshot on different days. Do not treat them as one series.
- Averages hide tails. A single average time or rate buries a long tail of very old cases. Read case-age brackets instead. See average time to dispose a case.
- Pending is not guilt. A pending case says nothing about who will win. See why a pending case is not a verdict.
03Where the numbers come from
Three kinds of source produce the figures you will see, in rough order of immediacy:
- The NJDG (njdg.ecourts.gov.in) is the live dashboard, refreshed close to daily from data courts enter. It is the primary source for current pendency, disposal and case age. See what the NJDG is.
- Parliamentary replies by the Law Ministry give dated point-in-time figures, often drawn from the NJDG, and are useful because they are on the record.
- Annual reports and independent analyses (Supreme Court and High Court reports, the India Justice Report, research groups) add context and trends but may lag the live data.
The NJDG and eCourts are not the same thing. The difference matters when you read a figure. See the difference between NJDG and eCourts.
04Pull a figure from the NJDG yourself
Rather than repeat a number you read elsewhere, get it from the source:
- Open njdg.ecourts.gov.in and choose the tier: Supreme Court, High Court or district.
- Narrow to the state, court or establishment you need.
- Read the pending count, the institution and disposal panels, and the case-age brackets.
- Write down the exact figure, the filter you used, and the date shown on the dashboard.
For the mechanics step by step, see how to use the NJDG.
A good pendency figure always travels with three things: the number, the filter it came from, and the date it was read.
05A quick checklist
Before you quote or publish a pendency figure, confirm you can answer all five:
- What exactly does it count (pending, disposed, instituted, or a rate)?
- Which court or tier, and which state?
- As on what date?
- From which source (NJDG reading, parliamentary reply, report)?
- Is it comparable to the other figures you are placing it next to?
One habit that prevents most errors
Never move a pendency number without its date and source attached. If you cannot state both, do not state the number.
06Where Claw fits
Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.
Aggregate pendency statistics come only from the official source, the NJDG, and the replies and reports built on it. Claw does not publish those statistics. Its job starts once you move from the national picture to a specific matter: it lets you search and track a case across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, sitting on 30 crore or more judgments with results in under 5 seconds, and it sends hearing and order alerts so you follow your own case precisely while reading the national data responsibly.
Create a free Claw account and run a case search across Indian courts.
07Sources
- National Judicial Data Grid: njdg.ecourts.gov.in
- Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice: doj.gov.in
- DataForIndia, judicial pendency analysis of NJDG data: dataforindia.com
Always carry the date and source with any figure you quote.
08Frequently asked questions
How do I read Indian court pendency statistics correctly?
Learn five terms (pendency, institution, disposal, clearance rate, case age), always carry the date and source with any figure, and pull the number from the live NJDG rather than repeating a quote. Do not treat a disposal as a verdict on merits, and do not compare two snapshots from different dates as one series.
What is the most reliable source for pendency data?
The National Judicial Data Grid at njdg.ecourts.gov.in, which refreshes close to daily from data courts enter. Parliamentary replies give dated on-the-record figures (often drawn from the NJDG), and annual reports add trend context but may lag.
Why do two pendency figures sometimes disagree?
Usually because they snapshot on different dates or count slightly differently, for example a parliamentary reply as on 31 December versus a live NJDG reading today. They are not wrong, just not the same series, so do not compare them case for case.
Does a disposed case mean the case was decided on merits?
No. Disposal includes settlements, withdrawals and transfers as well as judgments. A rising disposal count shows a court is closing cases, not that every one ended in a reasoned verdict.