न्यायपालिकामा चुलिँदो मुद्दा चाप, ३ लाख ७५ हजारभन्दा बढी मुद्दा व्यवस्थापन चुनौतीपूर्णGrowing Pressure on Judiciary as Pending Court Cases Surpass 375,000 Nationwide

Kathmandu: The workload of Nepal’s judiciary has continued to rise significantly over the years. According to the action plan presented by proposed Chief Justice Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma before the Parliamentary Hearing Committee, the annual number of pending court cases has increased from 107,641 in 2061 B.S. to 375,284 by the end of Ashadh 2082 B.S. Likewise, the annual case settlement figure has risen from 53,812 to 228,142 during the same period, indicating that the workload of courts has increased by more than three times while case settlements have grown by over four times.

The report states that in the fiscal year 2081/082 alone, a total of 214,754 new cases were registered in courts across the country. On average, around 17,896 new cases are filed every month and nearly 715 cases every day. Although courts are disposing of an average of 760 cases daily, old backlog cases have not been fully reduced. The Supreme Court currently has 1,258 cases older than five years, while six cases older than two years remain in High Courts and 3,864 cases are pending in District Courts. Sharma also noted that damage to information technology servers and related systems has affected case management and increased pending cases. To address the situation, he proposed measures such as procedural simplification, jurisdictional review, better hearing and case-flow management, and maximum use of information technology to reduce backlog cases and improve judicial efficiency.