Justice M.S. Karnik has presided over 11,898 Bombay High Court cases since December 2011, resolving them in an average of 482 days — 7% faster than the court's overall average of 517 days. Of those cases, 3,724 (31.3%) remain pending, below the Bombay High Court's court-wide rate of 39.1%. A breakdown across 17 case types shows interlocutory applications resolved 36% faster than the court average — and first appeals taking 56% longer.
# Bombay High Court Case Duration: Data From 11,898 Cases
Justice M.S. Karnik has presided over **11,898 Bombay High Court cases** since December 2011, resolving them in an average of **482 days** — 7% faster than the court's overall average of 517 days. Of those cases, **3,724 (31.3%)** remain pending, below the Bombay High Court's court-wide pending rate of 39.1%. A breakdown across 17 case types reveals where the gap widens: interlocutory applications — the interim relief mechanism most litigants encounter first — resolved **36% faster** than court average. First appeals took **56% longer**.
Bombay High Court Career Record — 482 Days Across 11,898 Cases
Justice M.S. Karnik has handled 11,898 Bombay High Court cases over 14 years — an average of roughly 850 cases per year, peaking at 2,763 cases in 2023. Of the total, **8,174 cases (68.7%)** have been resolved. The remaining 3,724 are pending.
Average resolution across all cases with valid duration records: **482 days**, against the Bombay High Court court-wide average of **517 days**. Against the Maharashtra state judge average of 757 days, the gap is 36%.
| Benchmark | Avg Days |
|---|
| Justice M.S. Karnik — full Bombay HC record | 482 |
| Bombay High Court court-wide average | 517 |
| Maharashtra state judge average | 757 |
| Maharashtra state lawyer case average | 353 |
Filing volume by peak years: 2023 (2,763 cases), 2018 (1,734), 2019 (1,623). The 2023–2025 cohorts account for the bulk of currently unresolved matters — 767 still pending from 2024 filings, 471 from 2025, and 515 from the 2023 peak year.
Bombay High Court Pending Cases — 3,724 Awaiting Judgment
Of 11,898 cases, **3,724 (31.3%)** have no recorded judgment date. The Bombay High Court's overall pending rate is **39.1%** — 216,147 pending out of 552,288 total. Karnik's 31.3% is 7.8 percentage points below the court-wide figure.
Bail Applications are almost entirely cleared: **1,740 of 1,744 BA cases resolved** (4 pending, 0.2%). Anticipatory Bail Applications follow similarly: 374 of 378 resolved (4 pending, 1.1%). Company Petitions and Civil Applications in First Appeals (CAF) have the highest pending rates at 59% each.
Case Type Breakdown — 17 Types, Wide Speed Variation
The 11,898 cases span 17 significant case types. The table below shows total volume, pending counts, and average resolution time against the Bombay High Court's court-wide averages:
| Case Type | Total | Pending | % Pending | Justice Karnik Avg Days | BHC Avg Days |
|---|
| WP – Writ Petition | 6,005 | 2,554 | 42.5% | 568 | 549 |
| BA – Bail Application | 1,744 | 4 | 0.2% | 147 | 140 |
| IA – Interlocutory Application | 869 | 296 | 34.1% | 158 | 241 |
| CAW – Civil Application in Writ Petition | 535 | 122 | 22.8% | 524 | 476 |
| ABA – Anticipatory Bail Application | 378 | 4 | 1.1% | 348 | 120 |
| APEAL – Appeal | 310 | 151 | 48.7% | 596 | 841 |
| CAA – Civil Application in Appeal from Order | 269 | 48 | 17.8% | 408 | 480 |
| CP – Company Petition | 200 | 118 | 59.0% | 492 | 599 |
| CAS – Civil Application in Second Appeal | 200 | 42 | 21.0% | 579 | 1,087 |
| CAF – Civil Application in First Appeal | 196 | 117 | 59.7% | 1,599 | 975 |
| AO – Appeal from Order | 192 | 19 | 9.9% | 496 | 531 |
| FA – First Appeal | 167 | 51 | 30.5% | 2,203 | 1,410 |
| APPA – Application in Appeal | 135 | 5 | 3.7% | 233 | 177 |
| REVN – Revision | 102 | 49 | 48.0% | 914 | 612 |
| APL – Application | 77 | 21 | 27.3% | 710 | 507 |
| PIL – Public Interest Litigation | 73 | 12 | 16.4% | 650 | 669 |
| APPLN – Criminal Application | 58 | 16 | 27.6% | 245 | 487 |
**Faster than court average (bolded):** Interlocutory Applications (158 vs 241 days, −36%), Appeals (596 vs 841, −29%), Civil Applications in Appeal from Order (408 vs 480, −15%), Civil Applications in Second Appeal (579 vs 1,087, −47%), Criminal Applications (245 vs 487, −50%).
**Slower than court average:** First Appeals (2,203 vs 1,410 days, +56%), Civil Applications in First Appeal (1,599 vs 975, +64%), Anticipatory Bail Applications (348 vs 120, +190%), Revisions (914 vs 612, +49%).
Verified Subset — A 22-Day Average in 131 Matched Cases
In a cross-referenced subset of 131 cases where judge attribution was independently confirmed, the average resolution across the 57 cases with valid duration data is **22 days** — the fastest among judges with 100 or more confirmed cases. This figure reflects a subset of short-duration matters and is not representative of the full 11,898-case record. The 482-day average across the full raw record is the more complete career-level measure.
Analysis
The bulk of the docket — 6,005 Writ Petitions at 568 days — tracks closely with the court's 549-day average, reflecting the inherent complexity variation within that category.
The most practically significant finding is in **Interlocutory Applications**: 158 days against the court's 241-day average, a 36% improvement across 869 cases. Interlocutory Applications are the interim relief mechanism of High Court litigation — injunctions, stays, and urgent hearings that determine whether a litigant can operate normally while the substantive case proceeds. Faster disposal here has direct impact on parties waiting for interim orders.
Civil Applications in Second Appeal (579 vs 1,087 days, −47%) and Criminal Applications (245 vs 487 days, −50%) also show marked outperformance. Against these, First Appeals and Civil Applications in First Appeal run longer than court norms — First Appeals at 2,203 days against 1,410 (56% above), Civil Applications in First Appeal at 1,599 against 975 (64% above). These are typically complex, multi-year proceedings.
The pending caseload of 3,724 matters is proportionally lower than the Bombay High Court's overall 39.1% pending rate. Writ Petitions account for the largest pending share (2,554, or 42.5% of WPs assigned here), closely in line with the court-wide WP pending rate of 41.9%.
[Justice M.S. Karnik's full case record on JudgeMyLawyer.com](https://judgemylawyer.com/judge/justice-m-s-karnik) contains the complete verified case history with outcome data. For a peer comparison, [Justice N.J. Jamadar's profile](https://judgemylawyer.com/judge/justice-n-j-jamadar) covers 207 confirmed cases at the same court.
**How long does a Bombay High Court case take under Justice Karnik?** Across 11,898 cases filed between 2011 and 2026, the average is **482 days** — 7% below the court-wide average of 517 days. Interlocutory Applications resolved in 158 days (court average: 241). Writ Petitions took 568 days (court average: 549). First Appeals took 2,203 days (court average: 1,410).
Methodology
Data covers all Bombay High Court cases attributed to M.S. Karnik in court records published on JudgeMyLawyer.com (judgemylawyer.com), India's legal data platform, queried on 13 May 2026. A case is classified as pending where no judgment date is recorded. Duration averages use only cases with both a valid filing and judgment date. Court-wide averages are drawn from all 552,288 Bombay High Court cases in the dataset. The 131-case verified profile uses a separate matching pipeline. All courts in this analysis are in Maharashtra.
Data Limitations
Outcome data is near-absent in the raw Bombay High Court dataset — 70 outcomes recorded out of 11,898 cases (0.6%). Win rate figures are therefore not reported at the career level and apply only to the 131-case verified profile where outcomes are confirmed. Pending counts are based on absence of a recorded judgment date; cases without filing dates are excluded from year-of-filing analysis. Case type abbreviations follow Bombay High Court court records as filed; the full forms used in this article are based on official Bombay High Court case type codes. This analysis covers Maharashtra courts only.