Sir,
Apropos editorial ” Pendency of Court cases” (DE 18th Oct.) it is really refreshing to learn that the Hon’ble Chief Justice J&K High court is seized of gravity the matter.. It is hoped that some tangible and concrete measures and reforms will be introduced in the system to cut down the delay for justice delayed is justice denied. It is heartening to read that the authority has asked the Registrar judicial to prioritize listing of Jail Appeals. This has been the bane of the system as inmate under trials in many cases are in custody for much longer period that the punishment they would have undergone had their cases been decided. However, one has to bring to the notice of the authorities the fact that inordinate delays in adjudication of cases only emboldens bureaucrats to inflict injustice on poor people more so small government servants for they are certain that the cases would take years to decide may be even after retirement. With no practice of damages being recovered from the wrong doers poor people are the worst sufferers for they cannot afford influential lawyers to defend their cases. In this country rich and mighty are generally able to hoodwink the law to their advantage.
However one more thing that needs to be kept in mind is the fact that a reform introduced should not be abolished without any rhyme or reason. .A few years back the Hon’ble High Court introduced practice of prioritizing cases of Senior citizen with a view to expedite the disposal of cases in their life time. This proved of great succour to petitioners who were locked in cases regarding their pensionery benefit as their cases were really listed in the priority and decided. But this practice has somehow been discontinued of late for reasons known to the authorities concerned. It is high time this welcome reform is reintroduced again by the authorities. It was earlier the practice that final hearing cases were listed for two days in a weak but now this has been reduced to one day, which has also resulted in consequential delay.
V K Kandhari
On e-mail
Follow our WhatsApp channel