Clearing the Dockets: Reducing Backlog Through Mandatory Pro Bono and Judicial Innovation | 104 year old acquitted after 50 years

1.  On 2nd of May, 2025, Allahabad High Court disposed off a 50 year old matter whereby the court acquitted a man who was initially convicted in 1982 in a murder case. Lakhan, the man who is reportedly 104 has spent majority of his life behind bars and with the tag of a convict. This underscores the devastating effects of heavy backlog of pending cases with the Indian judiciary. The issue of the pendency of cases in India is not an emerging issue, but one which has been in the system for decades now. However, it is now that we are witnessing the human cost associated with this issue. The case of Lakhan is not an isolated matter but one of the thousands of cases pending before the judiciary, the only reason why this matter caught media attention was the reported age of the accused and the time he spent in jail for a crime which he did not commit.

2.  The Indian judiciary currently has around 5 crore cases pending from the trial courts to the apex court. The majority of the pendency currently lies with the district courts which is the first point of contact for citizens in most of the cases. This delay is not merely a statistical concern, it affects millions of lives, often forcing undertrials to remain in jail for years or leaving civil disputes unresolved across generations and eroding public trust in the system. Several interventions have been made by the government and other organisations like the bar council in reducing the backlog of cases. The government has introduced fast-track courts by setting timelines for specific procedures such as executions. Additionally, the supreme court introduced Lok Adalat and evening benches to hear more cases in one day. The bar council and the government of Indian also launched together the e-courts project which aims to digitize the Indian courts completely by 2026 which will make courts more efficient and will help clear the backlog of cases pending. However, the measures introduced have failed to address the core structural issues behind this backlog which includes lack of accountability of judicial officers, shortage of judges, and inefficient case management among many.

3.  One of the most effective ways to deal with this situation should be mandating pro-bono obligations within the legal profession. As of today, pro bono cases is only encouraged in theory and not undertaken in practice, there is no appropriate regulation with regards to doing compulsory pro bono cases. The Bar Council of India (BCI) which is the regulating body for legal profession in Indian must mandate some amount of pro bono work to law firms and lawyers. Drawing a parallel to how the Companies Act mandates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for businesses crossing certain thresholds such as those of profits, turnover or valuations, the Bar Council of India (BCI) should also set similar thresholds for law firms, independent practitioners and judicial officers. With the thresholds of BCI such as organisations size, matters handled annually and income of a firm, there must be a fixed number of pro bono cases to be handled by these entities in a specified period. This obligation should be clearly quantified and enforced—tracking the number, type, and outcome of such cases. This policy change will alter the image of legal profession to be not seen merely as a source of livelihood but as a duty to the society at large. Pro bono cannot remain a matter of individual discretion but must become a mandatory legal responsibility.

4. This policy change should also serve as a requirements for other judicial milestones such as designation of senior advocates, allotting empanelment of Public Sector Undertakings (PSU), being appointed as government counsels. The attachment of this policy with professional milestones will also encourage those outside the thresholds set by BCI to contribute their bit in reducing backlog of the cases. Furthermore, the judiciary can set up parallel courts/tribunals alongside which will complement the existing courts in the task of reducing the backlog. The said court or tribunal can be staffed by retired judges of high courts or supreme courts. They can be given the task of hearing with particularly final arguments, bail hearings, and appeals that are more than a decade or so old withing a set time limit of two to three days. These measures would not only help reduce the increasing backlog of cases in India but also ensure that existing courts remain focused on efficiently adjudicating newly instituted matters, without being overburdened by decades-old disputes.

5. The obligation should not only be restricted to lawyers and law firms but must also extend to the several bar associations across the country. They should pledge to undertake a defined number of cases annually. By coordinating with district and High Courts, Bar Associations must identify such matters and create structured pro bono teams to handle them efficiently. Dedicated teams of advocates should be constituted based on years of practice and seniority, with those crossing a defined threshold of experience required to handle a minimum number of delayed or pro bono cases each year as part of their professional duty. This initiative could include forming dedicated panels of volunteers, organizing legal aid camps within court premises, and setting monthly disposal targets.

6.  The reforms mentioned above may be new to India but are not new to the word. Such models have widely used across jurisdictions such as those of UK, South Korea, Philippines, China, US, etc. For Instance, in November of 2022, the CJ of UK, ordered 65 retired judges half of whom were over 70 to hear pending matters in effort to reduce the backlog of 63000 cases. The UK is also considering establishment of an intermediate court to hear cases that are pending for more than two years. This proposal aims to divert certain cases from the traditional court system to expedite proceedings and reduce the backlog. Similarly, since 2000, South Korea has mandated lawyers to fulfil a certain number of pro bono hours which involves undertaking cases to reduce the backlog of cases. By integrating these proven elements—a dedicated retired-judges’ tribunal and mandatory pro bono commitments linked to career milestones, India can not only finish its backlog but also can make the justice delivery system more efficient.  Such reforms will ensure public confidence in the system by reducing delays, and ensuring the legal system fulfills its fundamental duty of providing timely and equitable justice for all.