A dated official measure
A Department of Justice answer dated 2 April 2026 reports 5,256,293 cases pending for more than ten years in district and subordinate courts as at 27 March 2026, citing the National Judicial Data Grid. This is an age-specific subset. It should not be presented as the total number of pending Indian cases.
Why old cases need separate analysis
Very old proceedings can be concentrated by state, case type or procedural obstacle. A national total can identify scale but cannot tell whether delay arises from vacancies, service, evidence, stays, repeated adjournments or enforcement. Intervention design needs the distribution behind the number.
Where technology may help
NJDG itself is a monitoring system. Further tools may support document digitisation, age and stage dashboards, duplicate detection and preparation of routine materials. Any generative drafting pilot should be evaluated in the language, script, case type and procedural setting where it will operate.
Interpretation checklist
- Record the snapshot date because dashboard totals change.
- Separate Supreme Court, High Courts and district/subordinate courts.
- Separate total pendency from cases older than a threshold.
- Do not infer delay for an individual case from a national average.
- Pair technology proposals with staffing and procedural analysis.
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