Govt must make arrangement for speedy disposal of pending cases

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Sigh has rightly expressed disgust over the long pending cases in all the courts of law in the country. Presently, more than 30,000 posts of judges are lying vacant in different law courts of the country. These vacant posts need to be immediately filled for speedier delivery of justice. CJI K G Balkrishanan also expressed dismay over the delays in disposing of the cases. Chief Justice K G Balakrishanan has also expressed concern over the “chronic shortage” of judicial officers, which is hindering efforts to overcome ever-increasing number of pending cases. There are structural obstacles which discourage talented law graduates from joining the judicial services and over 17 percent posts of judicial officers remained vacant in the subordinate judiciary. The state government should initiate steps to make the Gram Nyalay as such that could attract talented law graduates to join it as law officers. The CJI rightly quoted the Law Commission report to say that the judicial system needed to be expanded by at least five times in order to meet the judge-to-population ratio of developed countries.A considerable number of vacancies at subordinate level have been filled in recent months but still 2,783 out of 16,946 sanctioned posts are vacant which calls for a compelling need for state governments and high courts to work in close coordination to fill up the vacancies in a time-bound manner.The inordinate delays in disposing of cases result in languishing of undertrials in jails for more time than they will be awarded punishment and by the time they would have undergone imprisonment for more time. The judicial system in the country needs to be reformed and overhauled and technical experties should be hired for some time to bring the system in order. All court works should be computerised and all law courts in the country should be interconnected all the time so thatr there could be appraisal of the working of subordinate courts by the higher courts time to time. Besides this, accountability should also be fixed for the delays in disposal of the cases lying pending for the long time. The central government must also expedite the enforcement of Gram Nyalay which has been already legislated and enacted. It is the duty of the state government to take measures like implementing Gram Nyalay so that the cases for petty crime could be solved at village level.Like the 3-tier of administration- Village level, District Level and State level, the judiciary system should also be modelled on 3-tier system. And Gram Kachhari should be empowered to dispose of cases of small and petty crime and land and land dispute. It should be empowered to deal with all cases except of heinous crime. Take for example the cases related to dowry can be easily solved at village level itself if the government shows interest in forming Gram Nyalay in every village of the country. The state government must make arrangement for adequate funds for Gram Nyalay so that the talented lawyers should join Gram Nyalaya as Judicial officers to deliver justice smooth and fast and beyond any question mark. The members of Gram Nyalay must be of high integrity and honesty and there also should be provision to challenge the Gram Nyalay verdict in higher courts. There are highest number of pending cases in our country in comparison to any country of the world. Though we are also only second to China in the world in terms of population, the cases in China are disposed of faster. So, it is a matter of great concern for the country to dispose of long pending cases and get out those imprisoned persons from the jails who had already gone imprisonment more than what they would be awarded punishment by the court . Government must act for the speedier delivery of justice. Long pending cases also strengthen the view that jusice delayed is justice denied.