PANAJI
Pendency of cases in Goa's subordinate courts -- district courts and lower -- are mounting by the month with more cases being filed than those being disposed by the courts.
As of date, the backlog in the lower courts in Goa have nearly breached the 59,000 mark and in signs that this pendency is unlikely to improve very soon, there have been more litigants filing fresh cases than those having their matters decided and disposed by judges.
According to the National Judicial Data Grid, the lower courts in Goa have 58,982 cases pending. Of these, 26,695 are civil suits and the balance 32,287 are criminal matters.
While these lower courts did dispose a significant 2,597 matters in November (739 civil suits and 1,858 criminal cases), the performance will not suffice to bring down the backlog as litigants are instituting fresh cases at a much higher rate.
For instance in the month of November, a much higher 3,086 suits -- 2,112 criminal and 974 civil -- came to be filed.
Also, of the cases disposed 38% of the losing parties have contested the final judgements in higher courts.
Meanwhile, of the pending cases, most (42%) expectedly are matters instituted in the last one year (2024) and 38 per-cent are from the previous two years (2022 and 2023). Interestingly, a significant 5 per-cent of the pending cases are more than 10 years old matters, including criminal matters.
Senior citizens are parties involved in nearly 10,000 of the total 58,000-odd pending cases, including 8,923 civil suits. In 882 criminal matters, the accused involved are seniors.
PENDENCY HIGHER
IN NORTH GOA
The pendency of cases in lower courts in the North Goa district is significantly higher than in courts in South Goa.
Of the total 58,982 cases pending in Goa, as many as 42,016 (71 per-cent) are pending in courts in the North Goa district. Of these, 17,164 are civil suits and 24,854 are criminal cases. Courts in South Goa have a much lower number of cases -- 16,966 (9,531 civil matters and 7.435 criminal cases) -- pending.
