The state-wise breakup of the 9,749 crore allocated to the Indian judiciary

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of India heard a PIL seeking the setting up of additional subordinate courts across the country, as was recommended by the Law Commission of India in its 245th Report..Pursuant to the court’s directions, the National Court Management System Committee (NCMSC) was required to submit a report on assessing the requisite judge strength for these courts..Quoting from the NCMSC’s report, and appearing for the Centre, ASG Maninder Singh told the court that the 14th Finance Commission had approved a total of Rs. 9,749 crore for the judiciary for the next five years..In response, the Court has asked the Centre to file an affidavit giving a detailed state-wise breakup of the funds thus allocated. This information is available in the 14th Finance Commission Report..So how much money does each state get?.The Bombay High Court, which covers the states of Maharashtra and Goa, as well as the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, is allocated a whopping Rs. 1,043 crore. The Allahabad High Court, for Uttar Pradesh is not far behind, with an allocation of Rs. 915 crore. Next on the list are Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, with Rs. 765 crore and Rs. 717 crore respectively..Below is the state-wise allocation:.High Court (State)Total allocation (in Rs. crore)Bombay (Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli)1043.7Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh)915.20Gujarat765.72Madhya Pradesh717.89Patna (Bihar)662.06Punjab & Haryana565.15Madras (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry)542.13Gauhati (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland)520.04Rajasthan497.99Karnataka497.69Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh & Telangana)467.99Calcutta (West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands)436.11Orissa405.67Jharkhand310.21Chhattisgarh255.74Kerala (Kerala and Lakshadweep)234.02Jammu & Kashmir172.04Delhi169.58Uttarakhand165.55Himachal Pradesh98.04Tripura95Manipur92.84Meghalaya90.66Sikkim27.68TOTAL9748.7.The budget for each state is broken up into several categories, including allocations for additional courts, fast track courts, revamping existing court complexes, setting up of lok adalats and ADR centres, etc..Below is a category-wise allocation:.HeadTotal allocation (in Rs. crore)Additional Courts858.83Fast Track Courts4,144.11Family Courts541.06Re-designing Existing Courts1,400.00Technical Manpower & Support479.68Scanning & Digitization752.50Law Schools50.50Lok Adalats93.61ADR Centres300.00Mediators503.44Capacity Building624.98TOTAL9748.7.Though Rs. 9,749 crore is a rather sizeable amount, the fact remains that more often than not, these approved funds go largely unutilised..As per records of the 13th Finance Commission, Rs. 5,000 crore was allocated to the Department of Justice during the five-year period between 2010 and 2015. Ultimately, Rs. 1480 crore was released, out of which a meagre 32% was used..HeadAllocationTotal ReleaseTotal Utilization% of utilizationMorning/Evening Shift Courts2,500713.7934.514.83Lok Adalat & Legal Aid30093.4842.9745.97Training of Judicial Officers25081.3667.3182.73Heritage Court Buildings450128.7059.9446.57State Judicial Academy3009976.4277.20ADR750231.69153.4166.21Court Managers30085.3811.8513.88TOTAL5,0001,479.95471.4431.86.And this is a concern Chief Justice of India TS Thakur shared during yesterday’s hearing..He asked the ASG,.“Has it eventually reached the High courts? Have the States given the money to the judiciary? How do you monitor that the money set apart for judiciary is actually used for judicial infrastructure and not any other purpose?”.Perhaps the answers to these questions will be provided on the next date of hearing.