New Delhi, Dec. 7 -- India's courts are overburdened' is a no brainer. As of July 2025, there were more than 52.4 million pending cases, including 46 million in subordinate courts, 6.3 million in high courts and 86,723 in the Supreme Court, according to law ministry data placed in the Rajya Sabha on 31 July.

To these dazzling numbers, one can add an equivalent number of matters pending in our tribunals and administrative machinery. It is a delight for lawyers, whose numbers too are rising, thanks to special law universities dotted all over the country. What is the way forward to reduce this burden?

Ordinary disputes can take years, even decades, to reach a conclusion. This backlog erodes public confidence, raises the cost of doing busin...