Supreme Court's Five-Year Plan Impacted by Arson, Case Resolution Goals Missed

Kathmandu. The Supreme Court had prioritized case resolution by implementing the judiciary's fifth five-year strategic plan from July 17, 2024 (Shrawan 1, 2081). However, this strategic plan has been affected due to the arson that occurred during the destruction on September 9, 2025 (Bhadra 24, 2082).

This five-year strategic plan was implemented for the fiscal years 2024/25 to 2028/29, during the tenure of then Chief Justice Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha. A budget of NPR 26.22 billion, 72 million, and 20 thousand was estimated to complete judicial reforms and implement the set programs within five years.

While the fiscal year 2025/26 is ongoing for the implementation of the five-year strategic plan, the goal achievement has been impacted due to the destruction on September 9 (Bhadra 24). The burning of approximately 20,000 case files at the Supreme Court affected case hearings for about three months.

At the end of the fiscal year 2023/24, when the judiciary's strategic plan was implemented, the number of cases older than five years was 3,242, and the backlog of petitions was over 5,000. Due to the disruption in hearings caused by the incident on September 9 (Bhadra 24), it has become difficult to meet the set targets. According to the plan, the goal was to resolve all cases older than three years by the end of June 2029 (Ashad Masaan, 2085) and reduce cases older than two years to zero by the end of June 2030 (Ashad Masaan, 2086).

Additionally, the target was to decide cases involving detainees within two years and cases considered for review within nine months. The plan also mentions resolving at least 50 percent of annual filings for petitions, appeals, reviews, permissions, and reviews, and concluding registered reports within three months.

Amidst a shortage of judicial manpower, the fire on September 9 (Bhadra 24) destroyed the court building, information technology, and case files, leading to a three-month suspension of hearings. This destruction has pushed the judicial performance of the Supreme Court and other affected courts at least five months behind the annual plan.

Similarly, the high courts aimed to resolve cases in the simple, general, and special track groups within the timeframes specified by their respective procedures. According to the plan, all pending cases older than 18 months at the high courts were to be decided by the end of June 2026 (Ashad Masaan, 2082). Furthermore, the goal was to issue final orders within one month of registering a report and decide mediation requests within the period stipulated by law.

In the current fiscal year 2025/26, for the first time, all cases older than 18 months in the high courts and their benches have been resolved. This fiscal year, the overall case resolution rate of the judiciary has reached 54.03 percent.

In the past, the judiciary, burdened by case backlogs, has seen significant improvement this time due to the implementation of the 'DCM' (Differential Case Management) system. Out of 18 benches in the high courts, 14 have zeroed out cases older than 18 months, while the remaining 4 benches have a very small number of pending cases. Likewise, 42 district courts have succeeded in resolving old cases older than 2 years, and 29 district courts have resolved cases older than 18 months.

The district courts also had a target to finalize all pending cases older than 18 months within one year. The strategic plan included resolving at least 50 percent of the annual cases registered in special courts, administrative courts, labor courts, and tribunals, with special petitions to be resolved within seven days of receiving evidence.

According to the strategic plan, the Supreme Court has not met the set targets. According to the latest data released by the Supreme Court, only 29 percent of the total cases were resolved in the fiscal year 2025/26. As of the end of June, 27,467 cases are still pending in the Supreme Court. Out of the 20,000 case files burnt in last year's arson, only 18,000 have been recovered, while 2,000 case files are yet to be retrieved.

Before the incident on September 9 (Bhadra 24), there were approximately 24,000 pending cases in the Supreme Court. While these cases were ongoing, an additional 14,829 new cases were registered. Among the pending cases, 1,276 cases older than five years are still pending.

According to the strategic plan, such cases older than five years should have been reduced to zero by the end of June. Supreme Court data shows that in the fiscal year 2024/25, 362,519 new cases were registered in courts across the country, and by the end of June 2025, 182,828 cases were pending resolution.

By the end of June 2026, the total number of pending cases in courts across the country is 160,549.