Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 9: Over four-crore cases are pending with various courts in the country.
In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju said that 70,038 cases are pending in Supreme Court while 56,46,753 cases are pending in High Courts across the country. The situation is worst in Districts and Subordinate Courts where the number of pending cases is 4,06,15,476 till date.
A total of 4,63,32,267 cases are pending across the country.
“Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary. No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts”, he said and made it clear that the government has no role in the disposal of cases in courts.
“Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include the availability of the adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, the complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, the co-operation of stakeholders viz. bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures”, he said. He said that the Central Government was fully committed to speedy disposal of cases in accordance with Article 21 of the Constitution and reducing pendency.
“The Government has taken several initiatives to provide an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary”, he said and added informed that “the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August 2011 with the twin objectives of increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities. The Mission has been pursuing a coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerization, increase in strength of subordinate judiciary, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development. |
