11.73 lakh court cases pending for over 20 years in India, UP tops list
2 min readJul 23, 2026 07:48 PM IST
Court cases pending in India for over 20 years have crossed 11.73 lakh, with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest backlog. (Image generated using AI)
Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said that there are over 11.73 lakh court cases pending for more than 20 years in various courts in the country. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Meghwal, quoting data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) as of July 16, 2026, said 11,73,509 cases have been pending for over 20 years in the Supreme Court, 25 High Courts, District and Subordinate Courts across the country.
Allahabad High Court tops 20-year pendency list with 1.61 lakh cases
According to the statement, a total of 4,52,152 cases have been pending for more than 20 years in the Supreme Court and High Courts across India. The Allahabad High Court has the highest number of cases pending for more than 20 years, with 1,61,598 cases.
It is followed by the Madras High Court (76,298), Bombay High Court (55,255), Calcutta High Court (34,551), Rajasthan High Court (33,296), Punjab and Haryana High Court (25,247), and Madhya Pradesh High Court (24,938).
The High Courts of Meghalaya, Tripura, and Sikkim have no cases pending for more than 20 years.
Among the remaining High Courts, the lowest number of such long-pending cases is in the Manipur High Court (5 cases), followed by the Gauhati High Court (81 cases), Himachal Pradesh High Court (90 cases) and Chhattisgarh High Court (94 cases).
Supreme Court and High Courts: Cases pending for 1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 years
Pending Cases in Supreme Court & High Courts, as on 16.07.2026
65,68,560
Total pending cases, Supreme Court + all High Courts
12,28,353
Highest pendency: Allahabad High Court
96,024
Pending in Supreme Court of India
Age-wise Break-up of Pending Cases (All High Courts)
Exclusive age bands computed from cumulative "more than X years" figures; total = 64,72,536
Source: Indian Express
