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KERALA · UPDATED 26 April 2026

THE WAIT

How long is the wait for justice in Kerala?

18.1 lakh cases are waiting in Kerala's district courts. The middle of the backlog has already been waiting about 24 months. A backlog this big is not going to move on its own.

18.1lakh
pending cases
i

Every one of these is a person waiting for their day in court.

~24mo
typical wait
i

Half the cases pending today have been waiting longer than this.

133
cleared per 100 filed
i

Courts are finally clearing faster than new cases come in. The backlog built up over years is another story.

3
districts flagged
i

Where the backlog is heaviest, or the wait is longest, or the pace is slowest.

What the pressure means.

These numbers add scale and persistence to the headline backlog. They are scenarios and signals from the same published data, not predictions.

INVESTIGATION PATH

Follow the state trail.

Start with the headline pressure, then inspect districts, snapshot movement, comparisons, and citation-ready exports for Kerala.

01

Scan districts

Sort by backlog, clearance pace, typical wait, or file-clear gap to find the first pressure signal worth inspecting.

Open district workspace

02

Check movers

Compare the two most recent published snapshots when history is available, so a one-month change does not get lost in the table.

Open movers

03

Open evidence

Use the district page for history, caveats, citations, downloadable CSVs, and the metric definitions behind each number.

Inspect top district

04

Reuse safely

Use the public data, API, and press kit instead of raw capture files or unpublished runs.

Open press kit

Three districts to inspect first

A district lands here when its backlog, its waiting time, or its pace of work is out of line with the rest of the state. These are signals for closer inspection, not findings.

No. 1

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram has 3,52,872 cases waiting. A typical pending case falls around 730 days old, and the district cleared 150.1% as many cases as it received last month. It stays on the list of districts to watch in this snapshot.

Cases waiting
i
3,52,872
Typical wait
i
~24 mo
Cleared per 100
i
150

Why it is flaggedThis district isn't among the clearest pressure signals right now.

No. 2

Ernakulam

Ernakulam has 3,00,927 cases waiting. A typical pending case falls around 730 days old, and the district cleared 147.9% as many cases as it received last month. It stays on the list of districts to watch in this snapshot.

Cases waiting
i
3,00,927
Typical wait
i
~24 mo
Cleared per 100
i
148

Why it is flaggedThis district isn't among the clearest pressure signals right now.

No. 3

Thrissur

Thrissur has 2,08,559 cases waiting. A typical pending case falls around 730 days old, and the district cleared 124.5% as many cases as it received last month. It stays on the list of districts to watch in this snapshot.

Cases waiting
i
2,08,559
Typical wait
i
~24 mo
Cleared per 100
i
125

Why it is flaggedThis district is clearing cases more slowly than the Kerala average.

How the statewide backlog has moved

Each bar is a previously published statewide snapshot. It shows how the backlog has moved across publication dates, not a continuously refreshed surface.

  1. Apr 2026 18,02,610
  2. Apr 2026 18,01,417
  3. Apr 2026 18,03,737
  4. Apr 2026 18,05,810
  5. Apr 2026 18,07,705

Why this site exists

NyaayWatch is an independent view of public court aggregates. This state page covers Kerala. The national homepage lives at /, and the switcher links 35 other approved lower-court pages. It publishes reviewed snapshots instead of a continuously refreshed surface, so citizens, reporters, and civic groups can inspect the numbers, cite them, and ask sharper questions.