18% increase in productivity can clear entire backlog in judiciary, says survey

Economic Survey 2019: The newly-appointed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the latest Economic Survey on Thursday. Among a host of announcements, the document prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian mentioned ways to ramp up capacity in the lower judiciary. The document mentions that increasing productivity by 25 per cent in lower courts, 4 per cent in high courts and 18 per cent in the Supreme Court can clear the backlog in the Indian judiciary. The survey report says that delays in contract enforcement and disposal resolution are now the single biggest hurdle to the ease of doing business and higher GDP growth in India.

India has around 3.5 crore cases pending in its courts. The document mentioned that around 87.5 per cent of pending cases are piled up in the District and Subordinate courts. If a mere 2,279 vacancies are filled in the lower courts and 93 in the high courts, India would see all of its pending cases cleared, the Economic Survey 2019 mentioned. Out of all the states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal require special attention, it added.

Former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had said early last year that pendency figures were at its highest, which was a concern. He had said that out of the cases pending, more than 60 per cent were stuck in the lower courts.  The Economic Survey 2018-19, tabled in Parliament, is the first for the new government, which came to power with an overwhelming mandate.

"With the aspirations that have been kindled among our predominantly young population, India stands at a historic moment when sustained high economic growth has become a national imperative," Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V Subramanian said in his preface to the Survey. "The Survey, therefore, lays out an ambitious agenda for behavioral change by applying the principles of behavioral economics to several issues including gender equality, a healthy and beautiful India, savings, tax compliance and credit quality," he said.

Also read: Economic Survey 2019 Live Updates: India needs to sustain a growth rate of 8% to become $5 trillion economy by 2025, says CEA

Also read: How policy shift towards infant MSMEs can create more jobs? Economic Survey unveils blueprint