Reforming India’s Judiciary: Addressing the Case Backlog Crisis

The podcast provides an extensive analysis of the crippling case backlog crisis within the Indian judiciary, which currently exceeds fifty-three million pending cases and threatens citizens’ fundamental right to timely justice. It examines the crisis’s root causes, identifying systemic failures such as an acute judge deficit, inadequate infrastructure, and pervasive government-led frivolous litigation. The text then structures its discussion around three core pillars of reform: systemic re-engineering through specialized courts and highly successful Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms like Lok Adalats; the technological disruption promised by the multi-phase e-Courts Project, which aims for a unified, digital judiciary; and finally, grassroots outreach by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to combat social and economic barriers preventing marginalised citizens from accessing justice. The analysis concludes that success depends on balancing the speed of disposal against the substance of justice and ensuring the inclusive implementation of technology.