Half the Cases, One Litigant: India’s Justice System Under Strain

India’s judicial crisis is no longer defined only by slow courts—it is increasingly driven by who is litigating the most. This strategic legal intelligence product by Global Eye Intelligence delivers a hard, data-backed examination of how government entities have become the single largest contributor to India’s mounting judicial backlog, fundamentally distorting access to justice.

The analysis reveals how routine appeals, procedural asymmetries, long limitation periods, and weak internal accountability have turned litigation into a default administrative response rather than a last resort. Government departments, PSUs, regulators, and municipal bodies together account for nearly half of all pending cases, clogging courts with disputes that often lack substantive merit. This behaviour intensifies delays for private litigants, businesses, and citizens, while eroding public trust in institutional fairness.

Beyond diagnosis, the product maps the consequences—investment hesitation in regulated sectors, governance fatigue, declining conviction rates, and constitutional credibility risks. A scenario matrix outlines what happens if reform is pursued versus delayed, making clear that incremental tweaks will not be enough. Strategic recommendations focus on litigation filters, mandatory pre-litigation mediation, digitised case dashboards, and officer-level accountability frameworks.

Why this matters now: judicial backlogs at this scale threaten economic confidence and democratic legitimacy. Those who understand the structural drivers early can anticipate regulatory risk and governance outcomes—others will feel the impact only when delays become irreversible.

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