Nearly 62,000 cases pending in Goa, 3,000 added over 1.5 years

Panaji: The number of cases waiting to be heard in different courts across Goa are fast rising, with 61,934 cases pending as of today, according to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a centralised online platform under Supreme Court’s e-Courts project. The information covers cases spanning district, subordinate, and high courts.Over the last one-and-a-half years, the number of cases to be heard has risen for Goa by over 3,200. In late 2024, the number of pending cases stood at 58,678.The increase is getting bigger over the previous years with earlier the rate at which pending cases were added was around 1,000 annually.Of the cases pending, around 61,400 is the pendency before 53 district and other courts in Goa itself, including gram nyayalayas and the court of the fast track special court (Pocso).There are 21 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 27 hearing cases in Goa’s 53 — 32 in North Goa and 21 in South Goa — district and subordinate courts.Of the 61,934 cases pending — 28,263 are civil cases and 33,671 are case of criminal nature. The data shows that some of the top reasons for the pendency were the absconding of the accused, the unavailability of counsels of the parties, the lack of documents or witnesses, frequent appeals, and stays.The number of pending cases remains high in Goa due to the sheer number of new cases filed, as the state has improved its disposal rate significantly over the years.Though Goa’s disposal rate is good with 1,985 cases disposed last month, the rate at which new cases are instituted is higher at 2,072 over the last month. In another 547 of the 1,985 cases disposed, the judgements have been contested.Of the 61,934 pending cases, 34% or 20,890 cases are those filed over the last one year and 15,517 filed between one and three years back.Around 4,000 cases are pending for over a decade, a majority of these are civil cases, and another 11,994 for five to 10 years.As per the NJDG, the rate of pendency for cases filed by women is 15% and for senior citizens it is 18%.