NEW DELHI: It’s time for the judges to set targets for themselves for the disposal of cases. To fix the accountability of judges, who are often blamed for increasing pendency, Delhi High Court Chief Justice G Rohini has come out with such an innovative idea.
In an internal order circulated to the six Delhi district courts, Justice Rohini has asked all the judges to prepare synopsis of every case before beginning it and set a target as by when the case can be disposed of.
Delhi High Court, which is celebrating its golden jubilee year beginning October 31, has directed courts not to give unnecessary adjournments in the cases. The synopsis will have all details starting from the name of the complainant, accused, nature of crime, investigation done so far, number of witnesses to be examined.
The note will also have fixed timelines for every stage of trial. The synopsis will also help in delivering the judgment in a time bound manner. The order also states that once the statement of witnesses is recorded, order will have to be pronounced in a month’s time, failing which the judge concerned will have to give detailed reasons for not adhering to the timeline.
There is a pendency of over 3.2 crore cases in India and from which more than 40 lakh cases are pending before the 24 High Courts. The situation is worse in subordinate judicial service court where one crore cases are pending.