Justice Minister Ali Sabry said in Parliament yesterday that a total of 231,506 cases in district courts were yet to be solved at the end of last year. He said this in response to a question asked by SJB MP Hesha Withanage. Minister Sabry said 49,801 cases out of the total pending cases were one to five years old. “The number of cases between 5 to 10 years old were 20,586, cases old between 10 to 15 years were 8,947 and 15 to 20 years were 3,418. The cases that were older than 20 years were 4,620 at the end of 2019,” he said. MP Withanage asked how the cases field against allies of the government are being completed expeditiously when the cases filed against others seemed to be lagging behind. “Had all cases been given same treatment, the cases against inmates in Mahara Prison could also have been completed averting the unrest,” he said. In response, Ministry Sabry said there were no case hearings for about three months due to COVID-19 pandemic. “We requested the Judicial Service Commission to give the orders of the cases that have already been heard and finalised. The Civil Court of Appeal has given around 70 orders during the last three days of the cases that have already been heard. There is a difference between filing cases and hearing cases,” he said.