Is the Supreme Court Getting Slower? We Analyzed 24 Years of Data to Find Out.
A drop of 1,363 cases. That's what the data reveals about the Supreme Court's performance in 2024. We analyzed 20 years of judgment records to visualize the 'Great Slump' and ask the hard question: Is the court choosing quality over speed?
The Great Slump: Why Did Supreme Court Judgments Drop by 1,363 Cases in 2024?
Introduction We often hear about the "rising burden" on the Indian Supreme Court. The narrative is always about more cases, more filings, and more pressure. But when we analyzed the actual output—the number of judgments delivered—we found a trend that no one is talking about.
The Supreme Court just hit a massive speed bump.
According to our analysis of over 50,000 case records, the number of judgments delivered in 2024 didn't just flatten; it crashed.
Source: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/vangap/indian-supreme-court-judgments
The Data: A 1,363 Case Deficit We looked at the year-wise volume of judgments from 2000 to 2024. The trend line was relatively stable until last year.
In 2023: The court delivered significant volume.
In 2024: The output dropped by 1,363 cases.
To put that in perspective, that is roughly 15% of the court's annual capacity simply vanishing. It’s the equivalent of the court shutting down completely for two months.
Visualizing the Drop
The graph below visualizes the judgment count per year. Notice the red bar at the end—a stark contrast to the momentum of the previous years.
(This images shows year-wise judgement passed.)
The "Golden Year" of 2008 To understand how significant this drop is, we have to look back at history. The data highlights 2008 as the "Golden Year" of judicial productivity, where a staggering 2,619 judgments were passed.
Comparing 2008 to 2024 raises an uncomfortable question: Are we losing our efficiency? In 2008, the court was disposing of appeals at a record rate. Today, despite better technology and digitization (e-filing, virtual hearings), the raw output is struggling to keep up.
Why Is This Happening? (The "Quality vs. Quantity" Theory) Data shows the what, but we have to infer the why. A drop this sharp usually points to three factors:
The "Constitution Bench" Effect: In 2023-2024, the court spent weeks hearing massive Constitutional matters (Article 370, Electoral Bonds, Same-Sex Marriage). These cases tie up 5 to 7 judges for months, resulting in only one judgment despite hundreds of hours of work. The data suggests a trade-off: The court chose High Impact over High Volume.
Election Year Slowdown: 2024 was a general election year. Historically, judicial appointments and administrative momentum can slow down during massive national shifts.
Vacancies: A Bench that is not at full strength physically cannot deliver the same volume of verdicts.
Conclusion A decrease of 1,363 judgments is not a statistical error; it's a signal. While the court deserves credit for tackling heavy constitutional questions, the backlog of the "common man's appeals"—land disputes, bail matters, and service issues—continues to grow.
The data for 2025 will be critical. Will the court bounce back to its 2023 levels, or is this the new normal?
