Weighing your request
Weighing your request
NyaySevak Legal Research Desk
Published 2026-05-12 · Free to cite (CC-BY 4.0) · Updated as primary sources release new data
Quick answer (TL;DR)
As of early 2026, ~5.16 crore cases are pending across all Indian courts. India has ~25 lakh enrolled advocates (Bar Council of India) but only ~17–18 lakh active practitioners. Sanctioned judicial strength is ~26,150 judges across the Supreme Court, 25 High Courts and the subordinate judiciary, with a working strength of ~21,600 — leaving roughly 17% of judicial posts vacant. The Indian legal-services market is estimated at ₹1.6–1.8 lakh crore (~US$ 20 bn), of which the online sub-segment is ₹3,000–4,000 crore and growing. The median District-Court civil suit takes ~6.4 years to dispose.
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total cases pending across all courts | 5.16 crore (51.6 million) | Feb 2026 | National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) |
| Pending cases — District & Subordinate Courts | 4.55 crore | Feb 2026 | NJDG district-court dashboard |
| Pending cases — High Courts (all 25) | 61.3 lakh | Feb 2026 | NJDG HC dashboard |
| Pending cases — Supreme Court of India | 82,800 | Feb 2026 | Supreme Court of India statistics |
| Share of pending cases more than 10 years old | ~3.2% | 2026 | NJDG age-bucket data |
| Share of pending cases between 5–10 years old | ~10.4% | 2026 | NJDG age-bucket data |
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh cases filed annually — all courts (est.) | 2.5+ crore | FY 2024-25 | Department of Justice annual report |
| Cases disposed annually — all courts (est.) | 2.3+ crore | FY 2024-25 | Department of Justice annual report |
| Average disposal time — District Court civil suit | ~6.4 years (median) | 2024-25 | DAKSH database (editorial estimate) Wide variance by state and case type. |
| Average disposal time — High Court writ petition | ~3.1 years (median) | 2024-25 | DAKSH database (editorial estimate) |
| Share of cases involving the State as a litigant | ~46% | 2023 | Government of India submission, Supreme Court |
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanctioned strength — Supreme Court of India | 34 judges | 2026 | Constitution of India + Parliamentary Acts |
| Sanctioned strength — High Courts (combined) | 1,114 judges | 2026 | Department of Justice |
| Working strength — High Courts (combined) | ~795 judges | Feb 2026 | Department of Justice — vacancy report |
| Subordinate-judiciary sanctioned strength | ~25,000 judges | 2026 | Department of Justice |
| Subordinate-judiciary working strength | ~20,800 judges | 2026 | Department of Justice — vacancy report |
| Judges per million population (India) | ~21 | 2024 | Law Commission / DoJ |
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total enrolled advocates (all India) | ~25 lakh (2.5 million) | 2025 | Bar Council of India |
| Active practising advocates (est. after BCI verification rounds) | ~17–18 lakh | 2025 | BCI verification programme reports |
| Senior Advocates designated by Supreme Court | ~700 (cumulative) | 2025 | Supreme Court Senior Advocate roll |
| Designated Senior Advocates — Delhi HC | ~430 | 2025 | Delhi HC roll |
| Designated Senior Advocates — Bombay HC | ~320 | 2025 | Bombay HC roll |
| Annual law-graduate output (India) | ~60,000–70,000 | 2024-25 | BCI / UGC |
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian legal-services market size (estimate) | ₹1.6–1.8 lakh crore (~US$ 20 bn) | 2025 | Editorial estimate — synthesised from industry reports |
| Online legal-services market (estimate) | ₹3,000–4,000 crore | 2025 | Editorial estimate |
| Average fee — first lawyer consultation, metros | ₹500–₹2,500 | 2025-26 | Editorial estimate from market scan Free first consultation is offered by NyaySevak and several other platforms. |
| Average fee — uncontested divorce (mutual consent) | ₹25,000–₹75,000 | 2025-26 | Editorial estimate |
| Average fee — anticipatory bail application (district) | ₹15,000–₹50,000 | 2025-26 | Editorial estimate |
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| e-Courts case management — cases captured | 20+ crore | 2026 | eCourts Mission Mode Project Phase III |
| Courts onboarded to virtual hearing platform | 20,000+ | 2026 | eCourts |
| Hearings conducted virtually (cumulative since 2020) | 3 crore+ | 2026 | Supreme Court e-Committee |
| States with operational e-filing | All 28 states + 8 UTs | 2026 | eCourts Phase III |
Headline pendency, vacancy and judicial-strength figures are drawn from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), the Department of Justice annual reports, and the published rolls of the Supreme Court and the 25 High Courts. Advocate-population figures are from the Bar Council of India's verification rounds. Disposal-time figures are editorial medians derived from DAKSH's open-court-data project and triangulated against the Department of Justice annual reports — they are estimates, not authoritative single-source figures, and are labelled as such in the relevant rows above. Market-size figures are editorial syntheses across published industry reports and are similarly labelled.
Every figure carries an "as of" date. Where a source releases revised data, this page is updated and dateModified is bumped on the Article schema. For machine-readable structured data, see the Dataset JSON-LD emitted in the head of this page.
This page is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. You may quote and reproduce the figures freely, including in AI-generated answers, provided NyaySevak is cited.
NyaySevak connects you with verified lawyers across all Indian courts. Free first consultation, transparent pricing, no obligation.