Written by Risha Fatema,
Lawyer
April 2026
India has a vast number of pending cases, especially in the district and sessions courts. Because of this pendency and the lengthy procedures of litigation, aggrieved parties have to wait for years to get justice. To provide easy and early justice some, alternative methods have been started using by our judicial system, such as mediation. It helps the parties to resolve their dispute in less time and with less money and on their own terms.
“An ounce of mediation is worth a pound of arbitration and a ton of litigation.”
~Joseph Grynbaum
Introduction-
Mediation is one of the dispute resolution methods, where the dispute between the parties is resolved by a neutral third party (mutually selected by them) through communication. It is a confidential process where everything remains between the parties and is not disclosed to the public without their consent.[1]
If we look at the statistics of judicial backlog in India, it is the highest in the world. To answer a question raised by the Oxford Union, CJI DY Chandrachud said, “The judge to population ratio in India is amongst the lowest in the world. We need simply more Judges to adjudicate upon cases and we are engaging with the govt. to increase the strength of the Judiciary at all levels.”[2] In many cases, like civil cases, cheque bounce cases, traffic fine cases, etc. the court refers mediation for a fast resolution and to reduce the burden of the courts.
Understand judicial backlogs in India-
Statistics of judicial backlogs in India-
India Justice Report, 2025 stated that High Courts and Subordinate Courts in India have five crore pending cases. Rajasthan and Maharashtra have the highest number of pendencies, while Bihar has the highest backlog at the district level.[3]
According to the National Judicial Data Grid 4,82,62,930 cases are pending in Indian District Courts, of which 1,11,27,316 are civil and 3,71,35,614 are criminal cases. While the Supreme Court has 92,524 and the High Courts have 63,85,019 backlogs.[4]
120th report of Law Commission of India recommended “an immediate increase in ratio of judges to population of at least 50 judges per million population within five years” in the year 1988. Now it has been thirty-eight years but we have not reached that ratio.[5] According to the report, at that time the ratio was “10.5 judges per million population”, and now it is 15 judges per million population; hence, we have increased only 4.5 in thirty-seven years.
Cause of judicial backlog in India-
A major reason for the judicial backlog is that the Indian judiciary has a limited number of judges. In December 2023, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that India has 21 judges for one million people, this ratio is dependent on the 2011 population census, which was 1210.19 million.[6] On account of this statistic, there is only one judge for a population of 47,619. In 2025, this ratio reduced to 15 judges per million population.[7]
According to the India Justice Report, till January 2025, India had 21,285 judges. Henceforth, one High Court judge for the population of 18.7 lakh and one sub-ordinate judge for 69,000 populations.[8]
Another reason is that in today’s world, people are more aware of their rights, and they knock on the door of the judiciary even for petty matters. And gender based laws are misused by many females for personal rivalry or small issues.
There is a long list of traffic rule violations, because today’s generation is fond of high-speed driving due to which they do not follow traffic rules.
Impact of judicial backlog on the justice system-
There is a popular maxim, ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ which means if justice is not served within the required time, it is the same as no justice is served.
In India, cases last from generation to generation. Because of the long process, people lose faith in the judicial system.[9]
Parties have to face financial issues due to long judicial proceedings.[10]
Sometimes evidence may also be destroyed or lost in the long run, and witnesses may forget the facts.[11]
There is a danger to the victim from the accused, as he may cause any harm to the victim.
There are chances of further offences by the accused if he remains free after committing an offence.
What is a mediation process?
Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution commonly known as ADR. ADR is an emerging method to resolve disputes. This is a time-effective, cheap, and easy process. Parties to the dispute can themselves reach to an ADR mechanism or the Court may direct to resolve the dispute by any one of the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Mediation is a process where a neutral third party, i.e. mediator facilitates the parties to reach a solution. According to Section 3(h)[12] of the Mediation Act, 2023 mediation includes pre-litigation mediation, online mediation, community mediation or an expression of the same significance.
Types of mediation-
We have only two types of mediation processes in India:
Mediation referred by Court or Court annexed mediation –
Section 89[13] of the Code of Civil Procedure provides for the settlement of disputes outside the Court where the Court, if finds it suitable prescribe parties to resolve the dispute through mediation or any other method of alternative dispute resolution. And Section 3(e)[14] of the Mediation Act defines court-annexed mediation for pre-litigation mediation however, this mediation is authorized by the court and tribunal, at mediation centers.
Private mediation –
In the private mediation method, parties to the dispute approach a third neutral party to resolve their dispute instead of opting for a traditional litigation method. The third party or mediator may be an individual or a person associated with a mediation center, who helps them to resolve the dispute through communication and reach a way that is beneficial for both of them.[15]
How mediation can reduce judicial backlog-
If the parties to a dispute opt for mediation over the traditional litigation method, it will not only benefit the parties in resolving the dispute in a very short term of time and less money, but also lower the burden of courts. The court has a fixed procedure that has to be followed for any matter, which is a very long process from filing a plaint to issuing summons and producing evidence, and examination of witnesses. Some petty matters can be resolved by communication or negotiation, but parties file them in court, which takes too long to settle and increases the workload of courts. However, if these matters are transferred for mediation by the court or if parties themself go for the mediation instead of approaching a court, it will play a significant role in reducing the judicial backlog.
Challenges and limitations in mediation-
There is no doubt that mediation is a very effective method to resolve disputes outside the court and in very little time and money. However, it cannot be denied that every coin has two sides, alike the mediation does not have only pros but some cons too. Challenges that can arise in mediation are that if the parties cannot reach a settlement after the mediation, they have to start a suit in the Court from the very beginning, and another challenge is that the mediator cannot enforce the outcome of the mediation process on the parties, nor it is binding on the parties, they may follow the outcome or not.
Conclusion-
We have seen above the statistics of pending cases in Indian Courts and the number of judges available per million population of the country. This is a matter of concern not only for the judiciary and administration but for the common public because it is we who face the problems due to this pendency. The concept of alternative dispute resolution is a very effective mechanism that can be used to lower the judicial backlogs, and mediation is very simple among them all to resolve a dispute in a very short period of time and cost effectively.
[1] Mediation Defined: What is Mediation?, JAMS, https://www.jamsadr.com/mediation-defined/.
[2] CJI on backlog of cases: ‘Judge-population ratio in India among lowest in the world, need more judges’, Business Today (June. 27, 2024, 3:41 PM), https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/cji-on-backlog-of-cases-judge-population-ratio-in-india-among-lowest-in-world-need-more-judges-434905-2024-06-27.
[3] India Justice Report, 2025 https://indiajusticereport.org/files/IJR%204_Full%20Report_English%20(1).pdf
[4] National Judicial Data Grid, https://njdg.ecourts.gov.in/njdgnew/index.php.
[5] 120th report law commission
[6] India’s judge-population ratio stands at 21: Law Minister tells LS, Hindustan Times (Dec. 8, 2023, 9:23 PM), https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/indias-judge-population-ratio-stands-at-21-law-minister-tells-ls-101702050805063.html.
[7] Supra note 3
[8] Supra note 3
[9] Judicial Pendency, Vajiram & Ravi (Mar. 29, 2023), https://vajiramandravi.com/quest-upsc-notes/judicial-pendency/.
[10] ibid.
[11] ibid.
[12] The Mediation Act, 2023, No. 32, Acts of Parliament, 2023 (India)
[13] The Code of Civil Procedure, 1809, No. 0, Acts of Parliament, 1809 (India)
[14] mediation act
[15] Private Mediation Negotiate and Settle for More, Madhyastham, https://www.madhyastham.com/mediation-services/private-mediation.
