NEW DELHI: To ensure timely disposal of cases, the Ministry of Law and Justice—which is finalising the National Litigation Policy—wants to reform courtroom procedures to introduce corrective and reformative measures. It has suggested imposing costs on litigants seeking frequent adjournments and on judicial officers giving the next date of hearing. In a meeting last week, the ministry discussed the Singapore model of justice delivery system, which introduced greater discipline in courtroom procedures and imposed fines. This resulted in speedier justice.
“Imposing costs and fixing a time-frame for disposing of cases will overcome the challenges in the system,” an official added.
As per the Civil Procedure Code, a maximum of three adjournments can be granted during the trial of a civil case. This procedure is hardly adhered to. In Rajasthan, the average number of adjournments granted in the district and subordinate courts range from 12-42 in civil cases and from 4-34 in criminal cases. In Odisha, the average number of adjournments in civil cases is 151 and 33 in criminal cases. Sometimes, a case remains pending for an average 544 to 1,483 days in a subordinate court on account of stay granted by High Courts. Lack of judges and judicial manpower is also to blame for pendency. It is imperative that vacancies be filled on priority. However, shortage of judges is not the sole reason for the increasing pendency and lower rate of disposal.
“Lack of court management systems, frequent adjournments, strikes by lawyers, accumulation of first appeals, indiscriminate use of writ jurisdiction and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing,” the official added.
According to figures available with the National Judicial Data Grid), 2,22,37,248 are cases pending in district courts across the country. Among these, 22,42,401 cases are pending for over 10 years, of which 80 per cent are criminal cases. There are 37,20,343 cases pending for less than 10 years, but over five years.