BENGALURU: Sanctioned posts in courts for judges and judicial officers have been increased over the years but posts continue to remain vacant which has been a consistent reason for added burden on judges and the pendency of cases in courts.
The pendency of cases in Karnataka High court, district and taluk courts has reached 20 lakh plus in total. The civil and criminal cases pending in district and taluk courts were 18.08 lakh, according to the National Judicial Data Grid. As on August 30, 2022 there were 2.98 lakh cases pending in the Karnataka High Court.
The present Lokayukta and former Karnataka High Court judge, Justice BS Patil said, one of the major reasons for the rising pendency was a vacancy in posts, before he was appointed his position remained vacant for five months. Further explaining that when judges get transferred or retire, there is a delay in new appointments which adds to the pendency. In covid, often witnesses would not turn up in courts which would also cause hindrance in passing orders.
Former Supreme Court judge and former Lokayukta of Karnataka, Justice N Santhosh Hegde told TNIE that by merely increasing the number of judges and improving infrastructure, the pendency issue will not be resolved. He stressed the need to address and reduce ‘speculative litigation’.
Quoting an old Kannada saying, he said “In a litigation, who wins loses, and who loses eventually becomes bankrupt.” Often when there are attempts from either parties in a case to benefit through the lapse of time, courts are flooded with such cases which causes further delays for other cases as well. Hence, to reduce the pendency, adjournments should be controlled and minimum appeals in divisional courts must be registered, he suggested.
BT Venkatesh, senior advocate and ReachLaw founder explained that there was a need for a larger base of the judiciary and to relook the old procedural laws and bring in required changes.
Speaking about pressure faced by judges, he said a proper investigation must be done in cases because due to flimsy investigation often people get acquitted. However, judges are called out for not giving correct judgements. Comprehensive measures should be taken, and proper investigation must be done on cases.
In a reply to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, the Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana replied saying non-filing of judicial vacancies was a major reason for the pendency of cases in the country.
Karnataka Bar Council member Y R Sadasiva Reddy said that Karnataka’s state is much better now in terms of pendency. The judges have been appointed and cases are being disposed of much faster now. For prolonged undertrial cases he said, many reasons cause delay in such cases - witnesses not showing up on time being one of them. However, he added that if the courts continue to work at the current pace the situation will be much better in a few years.