Data · Court Statistics

Pendency of Cases in India: the Numbers, Explained (2026)

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Pendency means the number of cases that are filed and still awaiting a final decision. As on 31 December 2025, Indian courts together had roughly 5.41 crore cases pending across all three tiers, based on figures the Law Ministry placed before the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2026, drawn from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). This page sets out the tier-wise numbers, names the source and date for each, and explains how to read them without being misled. Last verified October 2026.

01The headline numbers (as on 31 December 2025)

The most recent tier-wise figures come from a written reply by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2026. The data is stated as on 31 December 2025 and is drawn from the NJDG.

The all-tier total of about 5.41 crore is the simple sum of the three official figures, not a separate number the reply itself states. We show the arithmetic so you can see exactly how it is built.

About 5.41 crore cases pending across all three tiers, as on 31 December 2025, per figures placed before the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2026.

02Tier by tier

Almost all of India’s pendency sits in the trial courts, not the higher judiciary. That single fact shapes every honest reading of the data.

• District and subordinate courts held 4,76,57,328 pending cases as on 31 December 2025, about 88% of the national total. For a deeper look, see how many cases are pending in India’s district courts.
• High Courts held 63,66,023 pending cases across all 25 High Courts. See pending cases in Indian High Courts.
• The Supreme Court held 92,101 pending matters, the smallest share but the fastest growing of the three (up 11.40% over three years). See pending cases in the Supreme Court.

Because the trial courts carry roughly nine in ten pending cases, national delay is overwhelmingly a district-court story. Fixes aimed only at the higher courts touch a small slice of the problem.

03Which states carry the load

The same Lok Sabha reply gave a state-wise split for district and subordinate courts as on 31 December 2025. A few states account for a large part of the national backlog.

Uttar Pradesh alone carries more district-court pendency than many states combined, and the Allahabad High Court has the heaviest High Court docket in the country. These are the figures named in the reply; always read them alongside each state’s population and judge strength rather than in isolation.

04Why pendency keeps rising

Pendency rises for a simple reason: in most recent years, more cases are filed than are decided. The NJDG tracks both sides of that balance, called institution and disposal. When institution runs ahead of disposal, the pending pile grows. See our explainer on institution versus disposal of cases.

Two structural pressures sit behind the gap. The first is judge strength. Large numbers of sanctioned judicial posts are vacant, which caps how many cases the system can decide. See judge vacancies and pendency. The second is case age: a share of the backlog is very old, which is covered in the oldest pending cases in India.

Note what pendency is not. A pending case is not a lost case or a verdict against anyone. It is simply a matter still in progress. See why a pending case is not a verdict.

05How to read the figures honestly

Pendency numbers move, and different sources snapshot them on different dates. A few habits keep you accurate:

1. Always carry the date. A figure without a date is almost useless. Write it as the source does, for example “as on 31 December 2025”.
2. Name the source. Parliamentary replies, NJDG and annual reports can differ because they snapshot on different days or count differently.
3. Do not mix snapshots. An NJDG reading from one month is not comparable, case for case, to a reply from another. Trends need the same source over time.
4. Check the live dashboard before you quote. The NJDG at njdg.ecourts.gov.in refreshes close to daily, so the live total will differ from any dated figure on this page.

For a fuller method, see how to read court pendency statistics and what the National Judicial Data Grid is.

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.

The aggregate pendency figures on this page come only from the official sources named above, the NJDG and the Law Ministry’s replies in Parliament. Claw does not publish national statistics. What Claw does is the opposite job: it lets you search and track a specific matter 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 a case you care about is never missed inside that national pile.

You can start with a free Claw account and run a case search across Indian courts, then set alerts on the matters that matter to you.

07Sources

• National Judicial Data Grid (live pendency and disposal data): njdg.ecourts.gov.in
• Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice: doj.gov.in
• Tier-wise figures as on 31 December 2025, Lok Sabha reply of 13 February 2026 (as reported): ianslive.in

Figures are dated snapshots and are revised over time. Confirm the current numbers on the NJDG before citing.

08Frequently asked questions