Guwahati, July 22 (IANS) Assam Law and Justice Minister Sushanta Borgohain told the state Assembly on Wednesday during the ongoing Monsoon session that more than 5.75 lakh cases are pending before courts in the state, while 40 judicial posts remain vacant.
Replying to a query by senior Congress MLA Jakir Hussain Sikdar, Minister Borgohain said that Assam has a sanctioned strength of 486 judicial officers, of which 446 posts are currently filled and 40 are lying vacant.
The Minister told the House that the process of filling the vacant posts is underway.
He also noted that some courts are yet to become operational because of inadequate infrastructure, which has affected the functioning of the judicial system in certain areas.
According to official data placed before the Assembly, the total number of pending cases in courts across the state stood at 5,75,541 as on May 31, 2026.
Of these, 1,14,296 are civil cases, while 4,61,245 are criminal cases.
The state government also shared details of case disposal by subordinate courts over the past five years.
In 2021, the courts disposed of 35,536 civil cases and 1,46,810 criminal cases.
The figures increased to 45,184 civil and 2,26,175 criminal cases in 2022, followed by 45,555 civil and 3,27,728 criminal cases in 2023.
In 2024, subordinate courts disposed of 50,483 civil cases and 2,33,399 criminal cases, while in 2025 they cleared 53,348 civil cases and 1,95,636 criminal cases.
Borgohain told the state Assembly that Assam currently has 40 fast track courts and six Special Courts functioning across the state.
However, there are no commercial courts in Assam.
The Minister said the state government has introduced several measures to ensure faster disposal of cases involving women and children. These include the 181 Women Helpline, Sakhi One Stop Centres, POCSO Courts, Child-Friendly Police Centres, the Shishu Mitra Helpline and the e-Courts Project, which has now been implemented across all courts in the state.
He also added that Lok Adalats disposed of 5,71,226 cases during the last five years, helping reduce judicial pendency.
The state Assembly was also informed that, as of July 13, 2026, Assam had 7,904 undertrial prisoners, including 1,049 who have remained under trial for prolonged periods.
–IANS
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