Himachal Pradesh High Court clears nearly 90% cases in 2025 despite judge shortage

Despite operating with five judges short of its sanctioned strength, the Himachal Pradesh High Court disposed of nearly 90 per cent of the cases instituted before it in 2025, reflecting a strong push towards faster justice delivery.

Official data shows that the High Court had a pendency of 93,942 cases as on January 1, 2025. During the year, 81,092 fresh cases were instituted, while 72,981 cases were disposed of, taking the pendency to 1,02,053 cases by December 31, 2025. The case clearance rate stood at 89.99 per cent, even though the court functioned with only 12 judges against a sanctioned strength of 17, including the Chief Justice.

Under the leadership of Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, priority was accorded to cases involving convicts lodged in jails, sexual harassment, crimes against women, juveniles and senior citizens. Cases in which proceedings in subordinate courts had been stayed were treated as “expedited cases” to prevent prolonged stagnation of trials.

To address legacy pendency, the High Court has declared 12 Saturdays as working days during the calendar year 2026. On these days, only the oldest pending hearing matters will be taken up, with the specific aim of reducing long-pending cases.

The reform drive yielded even stronger results in the district judiciary, which achieved a case clearance rate of 106.23 per cent. District courts had a pendency of about 6.31 lakh cases at the beginning of 2025. During the year, 8,02,478 cases were filed and 8,52,488 cases were disposed of, bringing pendency down to around 5.81 lakh cases by year-end.

Disposal norms were framed for judicial officers under the directions of the Chief Justice, with monthly and quarterly targets fixed. Progress was monitored under a strict action plan in line with Supreme Court directions to ensure timely and sensitive justice.

On the administrative front, three vacant posts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and 19 posts of Civil Judges were filled by December 31, 2025. Additionally, four new posts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and five posts of Civil Judges were created at various locations. The State Government has been urged to urgently create three more courts of Additional District and Sessions Judges and 34 courts of Civil Judges.

Judicial infrastructure also saw steady expansion during the year. The foundation stone of the Judicial Court Complex at Sarahan in Sirmaur district was laid on March 4, 2025, while the Judicial Court Complex at Arki in Solan district was inaugurated on May 27, 2025. A residential colony for judicial officers at Nalagarh was inaugurated on July 12, 2025.

Further strengthening the justice delivery system, three newly created courts of Additional District and Sessions Judges at Nurpur, Amb and Bilaspur were made functional with full infrastructure and were inaugurated on January 1 and January 7, 2026.

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