Judicial capacity up 57% since 2014, but pending cases rise 77%

The capacity expansion has taken place against a continuing rise in the judicial workload.

The government has substantially expanded the sanctioned capacity of India’s judicial system since 2014, adding more than 11,500 judicial posts across the Supreme Court, High Courts and district and subordinate courts. However, the increase in sanctioned strength has been accompanied by a much larger rise in the number of cases pending before the courts.

The sanctioned judicial strength across the three levels has increased by about 57 per cent, from 20,455 posts in 2014 to 32,028 as of 31 July 2026. Over the closest comparable period available in government data, pending cases have increased by approximately 77 per cent, from about 3.19 crore to 5.65 crore.

The comparison is not an exact 2014-to-2026 pendency series because the government’s historical figures for the three levels of the judiciary were recorded on different dates. The Supreme Court figure was reported as of 1 July 2014, while the High Court and district and subordinate court figures were reported as of 31 December 2013.

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The comparison comes as the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended three High Court Chief Justices, Justice Sunita Agarwal of Gujarat, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya of Delhi and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh of Telangana, for appointment as Supreme Court judges.

The Supreme Court currently has 34 sitting judges against a sanctioned strength of 38. If the three recommendations are approved and the judges assume office, the Court’s working strength will rise to 37, leaving one vacancy.

Government data shows that the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court was 31 judges in May 2014. The sanctioned strength of the High Courts was 906, while the sanctioned strength of the district and subordinate judiciary was 19,518. Together, this amounted to 20,455 sanctioned judicial posts.

By 31 July 2026, the sanctioned strength had risen to 38 in the Supreme Court, 1,122 in the High Courts and 30,868 in the subordinate judiciary. The combined sanctioned strength was therefore 32,028.

That represents an increase of 11,573 sanctioned judicial posts, or 56.6 per cent, over the period.

The largest expansion has taken place in the subordinate judiciary, where sanctioned posts have increased from 19,518 to 30,868, an increase of 58.1 per cent. High Court sanctioned strength has increased from 906 to 1,122, or 23.8 per cent, while the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength has increased from 31 to 38, or 22.6 per cent.

The expansion in sanctioned capacity has also been accompanied by efforts to fill the additional positions, although significant vacancies remain. The latest consolidated government figures available for 31 July showed 341 vacancies in the High Courts and 7,311 vacancies in the subordinate judiciary. The subordinate judiciary had 23,557 working judicial officers against 30,868 sanctioned posts.