In the Indian judicial system, severe judicial delays have resulted in numerous prominent cases languishing for 30 to over 70 years across Trial Courts, High Courts, and the Supreme Court.
These span major constitutional questions, corporate disasters, criminal massacres, and civil land disputes.
1. Prominent Constitutional & Statutory Cases in the Supreme Court
* Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community v. State of Maharashtra
* Duration: Over 38 years (originally filed in 1986).
* Issue: Pertains to the constitutional validity of excommunication by religious heads under Articles 25 and 26. The matter has remained pending before a 9-judge Constitution Bench for decades.
* Property Owners’ Association v. State of Maharashtra
* Duration: Languished for over 32 years (referred/filed around 1992).
* Issue: Involved whether private property constitutes "material resources of the community" under Article 39(b) for state acquisition. A 9-judge Constitution Bench finally heard the matter after sitting dormant across several chief justices.
* Mineral Area Development Authority (MADA) v. Steel Authority of India (SAIL)
* Duration: Stretched for over 30 years (arising from references dating to 1989–1990).
* Issue: A 9-judge bench reference on whether the power to tax mineral rights belongs to the States or the Union Parliament. Contradictory rulings between 1983 and 1989 caused the case to sit undecided for three decades.
1. Major Criminal & Disaster Trials
* Hashimpura Massacre Case (1987)
* Duration: 31 years for conviction.
* Details: In May 1987, 42 men were abducted and shot by Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel in Meerut, UP. The chargesheet was not filed until 1996, the trial court acquitted all accused in 2015 citing lack of evidence, and the Delhi High Court finally convicted 16 surviving personnel in 2018 (31 years later).
* Bhopal Gas Tragedy Litigation (1984)
* Duration: 40+ years (ongoing appeals and curative stages).
* Details: The world's worst industrial disaster occurred in December 1984. The trial court took 26 years (until 2010) just to deliver basic sentences for criminal negligence, while appeals, environmental remediation cases, and curative petitions for compensation lingered into the 2020s.
* L.N. Mishra Assassination Case (1975)
* Duration: Took nearly 40 years at the trial court level alone.
* Details: Union Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra was assassinated in a blast at Samastipur Railway Station in January 1975. The trial dragged on across 22 judges until a Delhi court finally convicted four Anand Margis in December 2014; appeals remain pending in higher courts.
* 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Cases
* Duration: Spanning 35–40 years.
* Details: Hundreds of murder and riot cases remained delayed or closed without investigation. Landmark convictions, such as that of Sajjan Kumar, were only delivered in late 2018 (34 years later), while several split trials and special investigation team (SIT) cases continue to languish.
1. Record-Holding Civil & Commercial Disputes
* The Berhampur Court Case / Malda Civil Suits
* Duration: 70+ years.
* Details: Tracked on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), partition and mortgage suits filed in 1951–1952 in courts like Malda (West Bengal) and Berhampur (Odisha) remained pending into the 2020s due to endless substitutions of deceased legal heirs and unexecuted court commissions.
* Mewar Royal Family Property Dispute (Maharana Mahendra Singh Ji v. Arvind Singhji)
* Duration: Pending for over 35 years in the higher judiciary.
* Details: Triggered by the demise of Maharaja Bhagwat Singh of Mewar in 1984, the multi-thousand-crore succession dispute concerning historic palaces and trusts has spanned multiple decades between the High Court and Supreme Court.
* Ayodhya Title Suit (Ram Janmabhoomi – Babri Masjid)
* Duration: ~70 years (civil suits filed in 1949–1950, final Supreme Court decree delivered in November 2019).
* Details: One of the most consequential property/religious disputes in modern Indian history, remaining in trial courts and the Allahabad High Court for over six decades before reaching resolution.
Systemic Causes for 30+ Year Pendency
* Bench Inavailability: Constitutional disputes require larger benches (5, 7, or 9 judges) that cannot easily sit continuously.
* Abatement and Substitution of Parties: In decades-old civil suits, parties pass away, requiring legal heirs (LRs) to be tracked and substituted repeatedly.
* Interlocutory Appeals and Stays: Frequent revision petitions and stay orders pause trials for years at a time.
* Low Judge-to-Population Ratio: Shortfalls in lower and appellate judiciary sanctioned strength contribute to severe backlogs.


