Court files are growing faster than they are being cleared in six districts of Vidarbha. Fresh data from the last week of July 2026 shows that cases entering the district and subordinate courts in this region are outpacing the cases being closed.

Nagpur, Amravati, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Chandrapur and Akola alone account for close to ten lakh pending matters between them.

Every one of these six districts added more new cases last month than its courts disposed of. The gap between what came in and what went out tells us how fast the backlog is growing in each place.

1. Nagpur tops the list with over 3 lakh pending cases

Nagpur had 3,27,602 cases sitting unresolved in its district and subordinate courts as of 28 July 2026. This is the largest number among all eleven districts in the region and the fourth highest across the 43 judicial districts of Maharashtra. During the previous month, 9,726 new cases were filed while only 4,676 were closed. That left a gap of 5,050 cases, the biggest monthly gap of all six districts on this list. Only 48.1 cases were cleared for every 100 filed, meaning the courts closed less than half of what came in. This gap added roughly 1.5 per cent more cases to the district's existing pile in just one month. The typical pending case in Nagpur has been waiting for around 730 days, placing it in the one to three year range. Out of the total, 1,33,036 cases have been pending for more than three years, which works out to about 40.6 per cent of the district's load. Nagpur also had 88,466 cases older than five years, and within that, 27,485 cases have dragged on for more than ten years, the highest share of decade-old files among the six districts covered here.

2. Amravati holds close to 1.6 lakh pending cases

Amravati came in second with 1,59,839 pending cases, placing it tenth among Maharashtra's 43 judicial districts. Last month, the courts here received 4,635 new filings and disposed of 2,416, leaving a difference of 2,219 cases. Amravati actually had the best clearance rate among all six districts, closing 52.1 cases for every 100 filed. Even with that better rate, its backlog still grew by about 1.4 per cent over the month. The average pending case here has also been stuck for close to 730 days. A total of 54,793 cases have crossed the three-year mark, making up 34.3 per cent of the district's pending load. Of these, 26,773 cases are older than five years, which is the smallest share of old cases among the six districts studied. Another 3,678 cases have been pending for more than ten years, a smaller slice than most of the other districts on this list.

3. Yavatmal crosses 1.34 lakh pending cases

Yavatmal recorded 1,34,926 pending cases, ranking third among the six districts and fourteenth in the state. The courts here took in 3,272 new cases last month and cleared 1,630, leaving behind 1,642 uncleared cases. Yavatmal's clearance rate stood at 49.8 cases for every 100 filed. Its monthly rise of about 1.2 per cent was the smallest among the six districts, meaning its backlog is growing at the slowest pace here even though the total is still sizeable. The typical wait for a pending case remains close to 730 days, matching most other districts in the list. As many as 51,544 cases have been pending for over three years, about 38.2 per cent of the total. A further 30,271 cases are older than five years, and 6,567 cases have been stuck for more than ten years, close to 4.9 per cent of the district's entire backlog.

4. Buldhana nears 1.2 lakh pending cases

Buldhana had 1,19,774 cases awaiting a hearing, placing it fourth on this list and eighteenth statewide. During the month before the snapshot, 2,925 cases were filed and only 1,356 were disposed of, leaving a gap of 1,569 cases. The clearance rate here was 46.4 cases for every 100 filed, the second lowest among the six districts after Akola. Its backlog rose by about 1.3 per cent over the month. Buldhana stands out for having the highest share of old cases among the six, with 49,874 cases pending for more than three years, or 41.6 per cent of its total. Of these, 27,466 cases are older than five years, making up 22.9 per cent of the district load. Another 5,483 cases have crossed the ten year mark, and Buldhana remains one of four districts on this list carrying more than a lakh pending matters.

5. Chandrapur goes past 1 lakh pending cases

Chandrapur had 1,08,045 pending cases, placing it fifth on the list and twenty first among Maharashtra's judicial districts. New filings reached 2,982 last month against 1,443 disposals, leaving a gap of 1,539 cases. The clearance rate worked out to 48.4 cases for every 100 filed. This added roughly 1.4 per cent to the district's existing backlog within the month. The typical pending case here has also been waiting close to 730 days. Chandrapur had 38,923 cases older than three years, forming about 36 per cent of its pending load, while 23,682 cases have crossed the five year mark. A further 4,814 cases have been pending for over ten years, roughly 4.5 per cent of the district's total backlog.

6. Akola sees the quickest monthly rise

Akola closed out the list with 1,06,954 pending cases, ranking sixth among these districts and twenty-second in the state. It received 3,351 new filings last month but managed only 1,064 disposals, leaving a gap of 2,287 cases, the second biggest gap after Nagpur. Akola's clearance rate was the weakest of all six districts at just 31.8 cases for every 100 filed. Its backlog grew by around 2.1 per cent in a single month, the fastest monthly rise anywhere on this list. The average pending case has also been stuck for close to 730 days here. Akola had 36,995 cases pending beyond three years, about 34.6 per cent of its total, and 20,497 cases older than five years, forming 19.2 per cent of the backlog. A further 4,385 cases have remained unresolved for more than ten years, and Akola's overall total sits just below Chandrapur in this list.

Every pending case represents a dispute, a criminal proceeding or a civil claim that has not yet reached its final stage in the district courts. Across Vidarbha, the numbers continue to change each day as fresh matters are filed and older ones are disposed of, making court pendency one of the most dynamic public datasets available.

As fresh data becomes available through the National Judicial Data Grid, the ranking and scale of pendency will continue to shift.

For now, these six districts account for the largest share of unresolved lower-court cases in Vidarbha, placing them at the centre of one of the region's most significant public records.

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