Congress’ election manifesto opens debate on much-needed reform in Indian judiciary but promises have seldom turned into government action.

We often hear of courts in India listing around 100 cases a day for hearing, how often do we hear of a court listing over 500 cases a day?

In a 2018 judgment with far-reaching repercussions for litigants and lawyers, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency Private Limited v Central Bureau of Investigation (2018 SCC Online 310) has restricted the duration of stays in both criminal as well as civil trials to six months.

In a speech on July 14, 2018, months before his swearing in as the Chief Justice of India, then-Justice Ranjan Gogoi spoke of the need of the judiciary to improve the efficiency on a day-to-day basis, and emphasised the need to adopt tools for that purpose.

Supreme Court pronounced close to 1,000 judgments in cases of varied subject matters between January and November 2018.

How much of a vacation do our judges need? This question comes up fairly frequently these days, particularly when there is conversations about the delays in deciding cases and the pending 3crore cases in our courts.

The horrifying incident of the rape and death of eight year old Asifa in Kathua (J&K) shocked the conscience of the country, when the police first found her body near a forest on 17 January this year.

With over 27 million cases pending in subordinate courts across the country, there is a need to look beyond traditional summary statistics.

While 1,217 subordinate judicial officer posts remain vacant, the state government and UP Public Service Commission's delay in filling them has seen a rise in pending cases. A speedy recruitment process is in the interest of speedy access to justice.

In a recent Supreme Court order in All India Judges’ Association vs Union of India, the court expressed its “considered view” that assistance of ‘Court Managers’ “is needed for a proper administrative set up in a court.”

The Supreme Court of India in the case of All India Judges Association & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., in its order dated 2 August 2018, has highlighted an often ignored problem with the Indian judiciary – the deplorable infrastructure of our courts.

A more widespread discussion on the Memorandum of Procedure is necessary because the process of appointment needs an overhaul.