Archive · 29 Jan 2026
India has 22 judges per 10 lakh people
India currently has 22 judges for every 10 lakh people, which is much lower than the 50 judges per 10 lakh people recommended by the Law Commission in 1987.
The Law Minister, Arjun Ram Meghwal, shared this information in the Rajya Sabha.
He also mentioned that there are 3,89,910 undertrials in the country as of 2023.
The slow disposal of cases is due to various reasons like the complexity of the cases, the nature of evidence, the cooperation of all involved parties, and the availability of infrastructure and court staff.
The calculation of the judge-to-population ratio is based on the 2011 Census data and the sanctioned strength of judges in different courts as of 2026.
India has 22 judges per 10 lakh people, as per the Law Minister's reply in Rajya Sabha.
The Law Commission recommended a judge-to-population ratio of 50 judges per 10 lakh people in 1987.
The calculation is based on 2011 Census data and the sanctioned strength of judges in 2026.
There were 3,89,910 undertrials in India in 2023, according to the NCRB report.
Case disposal is affected by factors like case complexity, evidence nature, stakeholder cooperation, and infrastructure availability.
- Who
- Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal
- What
- India's judge-to-population ratio and factors affecting case disposal
- When
- January 29, 2024 (Rajya Sabha reply)
- Where
- Rajya Sabha, New Delhi
- Why
- To inform about the current judge-to-population ratio and the reasons for case pendency
- Current judge-to-population ratio
- 22 judges per 10 lakh people
- Recommended ratio by Law Commission (1987)
- 50 judges per 10 lakh people
- Population data used for calculation
- 2011 Census data (1210.85 million)
- Number of undertrials in 2023
- 3,89,910
- Factors affecting case disposal
- Complexity of cases, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders, availability of infrastructure and court staff