The Supreme Court is working on a Case Management Plan 2023 to end a backlog of as many as 59,191 cases in the apex court, the registrar told the Full Court during an in-camera meeting on Monday.

The registrar stated that senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah prepared the one-month plan as part of the SC’s efforts to address the steps toward timely decision of cases.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi presided over the meeting which lasted for around two hours. All apex court judges attended it, according to the statement. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who is in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah, joined the meeting through a video link.

It was convened to assess the SC’s performance in the institution and disposal of cases, focusing on measures to reduce case backlog and enhance judicial efficiency.

The total number of pending cases rose by 3.9% in the latter half of 2023, reaching an alarming total of 2.26 million cases, according to the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan published earlier this year. It was a Bi-Annual Report on Judicial Statistics for the period from July to December 2023.

The comprehensive report provides detailed statistics on cases pending in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court, all High Courts, and the District Judiciary.

Notably, 82% of the pending cases—approximately 1.86 million—are situated within the district judiciary, while the remaining 18%, or around 0.39 million cases, are pending at higher levels.

“The plan includes setting clear standards, employing information technology to effectively manage all categories of cases,” the statement added.

While reviewing the plan, the judges discussed a range of strategies to achieve the plan’s targets.

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Criminal and civil cases, as detailed in the monthly plan, were allocated to specialised and three-member benches to ensure swift and speedy case resolution. Judges contributed insights and recommendations for further system improvement, underscoring their commitment to addressing case backlog.

Justice Shah suggested a one-month plan followed by three-month and six-month plans to reduce the case backlog and improve procedural efficiency.

CJP Afridi thanked all the judges for their “resolve to implement the Case Management Plan in full, with a commitment to achieve the outlined targets.”

Progress would be reviewed in the next session of the Full Court meeting scheduled for December 2, 2024.