In fact, it’s all looking rather glum – arrears cases older than one year are also up by more than 1,000.

A bump in pendency after the holidays is always expected – most of the Justices are enjoying their well-deserved breaks of course, making it hard to dispose of much (only 346 was the disposal rate in July, compared to usual figures between 4,000 and 9,000-odd).

On the upside, there will most likely be a flurry of disposals after the summer vacation (see the July 2011 record disposal of 1,300 cases), but the net increase of 2,000 additional pending cases over the last month will be hard to undo in the stats.

This crisis is particularly acute in light of a still reduced bench strength of 27 – two fewer than at the start of 2011, as Legally India reported in Mint last month.

But who knows, despite the odds being stacked against them, maybe the apex court lordships will surprise us by July end and undo the summer mountain?

Advocates: place your bets.

• Read LI’s analysis: The Supreme Court’s battle against the backlog - a losing proposition, or out of ideas?