Judicial Delays and Systemic Challenges: Insights from the India Justice Report 2025

Let’s be honest—when we talk about the Indian judiciary, the phrase “justice delayed is justice denied” isn’t just a cliché anymore; it’s a lived experience for millions of citizens. The India Justice Report 2025, released earlier this year, brings this uncomfortable reality into sharp focus yet again. The numbers are worrying, but it’s the human cost behind those numbers that should really shake us.

Over 5 crore cases are pending in courts across the country. That’s not just a statistic—it’s 5 crore families waiting for closure, justice, or sometimes, just an answer. Most of these cases— more than 4 crore—are stuck in the district and subordinate courts, where delays are the worst. For many, a simple land dispute or a petty criminal case ends up stretching over decades, swallowing up time, money, and hope.

But here’s the thing: this is not a new story. We’ve known about these delays for years. What the India Justice Report 2025 does differently is it lays bare the why. The report highlights a consistent failure to fill judicial vacancies. Across the country, about one in every four judges’ posts is vacant in the lower courts. Some states have it worse than others, but the message is clear—our courts are running on half the fuel, and we’re still expecting them to fly.

It’s not just judges who are missing. The support staff—the clerks, stenographers, peons, and record-keepers—are equally short in supply. Courtrooms, especially in rural areas, are often in a pathetic state. No waiting areas for litigants, no clean toilets, no proper seating, sometimes not even functioning fans in peak summer. Is this what access to justice is supposed to look like?

Then there’s the digital gap. We keep talking about “Digital India,” but video-conferencing, e filing, or even basic digitisation is still a distant dream in many courtrooms. The e-Courts project has made some headway, but we’re far from the kind of system where technology actually eases the burden on judges or makes things quicker for the litigants.

And what about legal aid? On paper, India has one of the largest legal aid networks in the world. In reality, poor people often get lawyers who barely put in any effort. Many don’t even know they’re entitled to free legal help. So the rich hire the best lawyers and keep dragging cases; the poor wait endlessly, watching the system move at a glacial pace.

What’s perhaps most frustrating is how little political and administrative urgency there is to fix this. Judicial reform isn’t a vote-winner, so it keeps getting ignored. Even within the judiciary, there's often more resistance to change than acceptance. Everyone knows what the problems are—but real, meaningful reform continues to be kicked down the road.

Still, it’s not all bad news. Some states—Kerala, Maharashtra, and a few others—have started improving their judge-to-population ratio, case disposal rates, and infrastructure. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. The rest of the country is still stuck in a cycle of delay, underfunding, and apathy.

The India Justice Report 2025 doesn’t just offer data—it holds up a mirror. The reflection isn’t pretty, but it’s necessary. We can’t keep pretending the system is working fine. Because for the ordinary Indian, especially the poor and marginalised, the wait for justice is not just long—it’s exhausting.

It’s high time we moved beyond token fixes and brought in reforms that actually change how justice is delivered in this country. Because without a functional, fair, and efficient justice system, democracy remains just an idea—not a reality.