Over 11.79 lakh cases pending in 732 functional family courts
Out of total 11,79,671, 34% cases are pending in Uttar Pradesh alone;
New Delhi: It seems 'speedy' hearing of cases in family courts has become a distant dream for petitioners as there are over 11.79 lakh cases of family disputes are pending in 732 family courts operational in the country.
Interestingly, of the total 11,79,671 pending cases in family courts in India, 34 per cent of such cases are pending in Uttar Pradesh alone. Even though the BJP-ruled state has the highest number of 189 functional family courts, the pendency of cases in family courts in Uttar Pradesh stands at 4,06,686.
According to the information provided by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Kerala, which has 28 functional family courts, has a pendency of 1,13,706 cases till October 31, 2021, while Congress-ruled Punjab has a pendency of 82,135 such cases in its 32 functional family courts and Bihar has a pendency of 67,954 cases in its 37 functional family courts across the state.
In Bihar, just 6,671 such cases have been disposed of upto October this year, while Kerala has settled 35,149 cases and Punjab has finalised 31,433 such cases in this year, Rijiju told Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question raised by BJP MP Ravi Kishan.
West Bengal, which has two functional family courts, has a pendency of 1,166 cases and the state has disposed of 96 such cases till October this year. Rajasthan, which has 47 functional family courts, has a pendency of 48,904 cases even after disposing of 19,965 cases till October this year.
In comparison to other states, Uttar Pradesh has disposed of 1,34,574 cases in this year (up to October), while 1,12,214 cases in the year 2020 and 2,66,775 in the year 2019.
The pendency of cases of Gujarat is 35,977 in its 33 functional family courts and the state has finalised 17,736 such cases up to October this year, while 8,918 cases were settled in the year 2020 and 13,754 such cases were disposed of in 2019.
With 31 family courts functional in Haryana, the BJP-ruled state has a pendency of 63,459 such cases after finalising 25,112 cases till October 31 this year. In 2020, 18,187 cases were settled in family courts and 14,909 such cases were disposed of in 2019.