AGARTALA: As many as 65,365 civil and criminal cases, comprising 13,349 civil and 52,016 criminal, were pending before the subordinate courts of Tripura as on January 31, 2026, according to the district-wise court pendency report of the state judiciary.
The data, covering all eight judicial districts across more than 90 court posts and 22 stations, presents a comprehensive picture of the accumulated caseload that Tripura’s judicial officers were carrying at the close of the first month of 2026. Criminal cases, at 52,016, accounted for the overwhelming majority of the total burden, outnumbering civil cases by a ratio of nearly four to one.
West Tripura Alone Carries More Cases Than Five Districts Put Together
According to the report, West Tripura District, Agartala, recorded the highest pendency among all eight districts with a total of 24,442 cases, of which 6,619 were civil and 17,823 were criminal. The district alone accounts for more than one-third of the state’s entire pending caseload.
At the other end of the spectrum, Dhalai District, Ambassa, recorded the lowest pendency in the state at 3,739 cases, comprising 463 civil and 3,276 criminal matters spread across four stations, namely Ambassa, Kamalpur, Longtharai Valley, and Gonda Twisa.
Among the remaining six districts, Sepahijala District, Sonamura, reported the second highest pendency at 7,607 cases, with 963 civil and 6,644 criminal, followed closely by South Tripura District, Belonia, at 7,368 cases with 1,030 civil and 6,338 criminal.
North Tripura District, Dharmanagar, recorded 6,529 cases comprising 1,512 civil and 5,017 criminal matters, while Khowai District logged 5,438 cases with 520 civil and 4,918 criminal. Unakoti Judicial District, Kailashahar, stood at 5,389 cases with 1,142 civil and 4,247 criminal. Gomati District, Udaipur, recorded 4,853 cases in total, with 1,100 civil and 3,753 criminal cases.
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One Station, Nearly a Third of the State’s Total Backlog
It is learned from the report that within West Tripura District, the Agartala station alone accounted for 21,865 of the district’s 24,442 cases, with 5,527 civil and 16,338 criminal, making it the single busiest station in the state.
The Mohanpur station under the same district recorded 746 cases. In Sepahijala District, the Bishalgarh station carried a pendency of 4,120 cases against Sonamura’s 3,356. In North Tripura, Dharmanagar station held 5,572 cases while Kanchanpur recorded 663.
In South Tripura, Belonia station accounted for 5,562 cases and Sabroom for 1,499. In Gomati District, Udaipur station recorded 3,613 cases and Amarpur 876.
3,454 Criminal Cases Before a Single Magistrate in Agartala
At the level of individual judicial officers, the report reveals a wide and striking variation in caseloads. Abhijit Adhikari, Judicial Magistrate First Class-cum-Civil Judge (Junior Division), Court No. 1, Agartala, carried the highest individual pendency in the entire state at 3,497 cases, of which 3,454 were criminal and 43 were civil.
Meanwhile, at the lowest end among active court posts, Thomas Lalditsaka Darlong, SDJM-cum-Civil Judge (Junior Division), Gonda Twisa in Dhalai District, recorded a pendency of 63 cases, all criminal, the lowest among all occupied court posts in the state.
Among other judicial officers across the state, individual pendencies varied considerably. Several magistrate courts in Agartala, Belonia, Sonamura, Bishalgarh, and Khowai carried caseloads ranging from 800 to over 2,000 cases each, with criminal matters constituting the dominant share in virtually every instance.
Civil Judges (Senior Division) across all districts handled exclusively civil dockets with no criminal cases, as is consistent with their jurisdiction.
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Five Courts Without Judges, 2,078 Cases Passed to Colleagues
Moreover, the report flags a significant concern regarding vacant court posts. As on January 31, 2026, at least five court positions across the state were lying vacant, with their respective caseloads assigned as additional charge to sitting judicial officers who were simultaneously managing their own pending matters.
These included Court No. 4 and Court No. 6 under the JM First Class cadre in Agartala, the Civil Judge (Junior Division)-cum-JM First Class post in Sonamura under Sepahijala District, the Civil Judge (Junior Division)-cum-JM First Class post in Ambassa, and the Family Court judgeship in Ambassa under Dhalai District.
Together, these five vacant posts carried a combined pendency of 2,078 cases, with 124 civil and 1,954 criminal, all borne as additional responsibility by their in-charge colleagues.
Even the State’s Lowest District Has Seven Times More Criminal Cases Than Civil
However, the most consistent pattern visible across the entire report is the near-universal dominance of criminal cases over civil matters in every district, every station, and the vast majority of individual court dockets.
At the state level, of the total 65,365 pending cases, 52,016 were criminal and 13,349 were civil. No district recorded a civil pendency that came close to its criminal pendency. Even in Dhalai District, which recorded the lowest overall numbers in the state, criminal cases at 3,276 were more than seven times the civil pendency of 463.
The report, which covers pendency data as on January 31, 2026, encompasses the subordinate courts of all eight judicial districts of Tripura, namely West Tripura, Gomati, South Tripura, Unakoti, North Tripura, Sepahijala, Khowai, and Dhalai, and reflects the collective judicial workload of the state’s district and subordinate judiciary at the start of the year.