In the High Court of Patna, 59285 civil cases and 15255 criminal cases are pending. In the subordinate courts of Bihar, 207417 civil cases and 809789 criminal cases are pending.

    Both the Government and judiciary are concerned with the quick disposal of pending civil and criminal cases. Various steps have been taken by the Government for speeding up the disposal of these cases. These include simplification of rules and procedures following recommendations of the expert bodies Law Commission and Malimath Committee. The Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1999 and the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2000 contain provisions for cutting short the delays and fixing a definite time limit at various stages of suits and civil proceedings.

    This information was given by the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question from Dr. Baliram in the Lok Sabha today.