Policy planners rightly felt that justice in our country has become a phenomenon with innumerable dimensions particularly when addressing the issues of vast Indian rural population. A natural corollary to expanding economy is that people want their interests to be secured. Landed property has assumed immense importance in the socio-economic frame of the rising society. Pressure on natural resources, land, water, minerals, air, etc. has increased manifold. With that, vested interest has also begun to emerge as a vital factor that has bearing on social and economic growth and formulations.
In this scenario, people have become highly conscious of their rights and the means to secure them. This has brought tremendous pressure on the judiciary because our social structure is such that it does not allow an option lesser than the judicial intervention to decide any dispute. The number of disputes rises phenomenally because there is unbounded urge for better economic status. Pendency in our courts has increased enormously and justice is delayed not for any ill intention on the part of judiciary but for logistic constraints, paucity of courts, judges, lawyers and the judicial staff. Therefore, the policy planners have been seeking options or diversions for two main purposes. One is to reduce the bulk of pendency in the courts and second is to bring inexpensive justice to the remotest corners of the country.
Dispensation of justice in our State is further hampered by geographical and topographical peculiarity of the State. It has been felt that litigation in regular courts has become very expensive. For the poorer sections of society access to regular courts is beyond their capacity. It involves physical labour, time and money. Therefore in a meeting of the Chief Ministers of States and the High Courts and the Supreme Court held on national level some time back, it was resolved that a new scheme named gramin nayalaya or village courts be introduced in the country with the main objectives of helping poorer sections get justice without incurring unbearable expenditures and without going through the hassles and time factor. The Supreme Court devised the plan and the Parliament passed the gramin nayalaya Act which when studied in its entirety is a very helpful and promising scheme of delivering quick and inexpensive justice to the people in rural India. But since owing to Article 370, the Act cannot be naturally applicable to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the State Government made some modifications in the Act and introduced it in the legislature under the title Dehi Adalat. The upper and the lower houses of the legislature passed the bill with voice vote in October 2013, and thus the Act was introduced in the State. But again, as is the fate of things in the State, it is more than six months that the bill has been passed but no concrete steps have been taken by the Government on the ground. No progress has been made so far. It was understood that one Dehi Adalat would be opened in each district of the State and if these were successful, the scheme could be expanded. Going into the details of the scheme, we find that the guidelines are extremely useful and in the interests of the people. The subjects that these village courts could handle have been identified and earmarked. The structure of the court has been set forth and the limitations have also been clearly stated. These courts cannot give death or life imprisonment punishment and imprisonment beyond two years. Likewise, the terms of reference are very clear and unambiguous.
But there is inertia at the level of implementation. Appointment of Judicial officials, provision of manpower and funds, accommodation and infrastructural requirements, all these matters are undecided. Therefore, to expect that justice will soon come to the doorsteps of village folks appear a distant dream. Initially, each Dehi Adalat is expected to be budgeted annually to the tune of 333.29 lakh rupees. The areas within which these courts would function have also been set forth in clear terms. While in other parts of the country the scheme is being implemented in phases, in our state even the initial steps have not been taken.
We know that the Government is conscious of the huge burden which the courts in the State to carry. It knows the huge bulk of pendency which despite increasing the number of judges of the High Court and also opening additional Session Courts is not diminishing. Therefore, the Government has to give priority to the Dehi Adalat by providing it the necessary infrastructure and making these functional. It is a very pragmatic and urgent step when looked at from the point of view of the people who are seeking justice. As such the Government needs to cobble resources to finance the scheme and see to it that Dehi Adalats are opened in each district without further loss of time.
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