Of late we have found a sense of urgency developing in judicial organ of the country about the disposal of pending cases. The Chief Justice of India took the first initiative of advising the entire judicial structure to take steps for reducing pendency in all the courts down to the lowest rung. In the light of guidelines provided by the CJI, the judges at State High Courts are expected to tackle the question of pendency in their courts.
Our judicial system is based on what the British had designed during the colonial rule. In essence it is the model which the British had devised for themselves. However times have changed and India is no more a colony. In all walks of life we in this country have brought about stupendous changes. In a growing economy, there is always some sort of spurt in economic and financial life. People become more conscious of their economic, political and social rights. This has been one of the factors that increased the task of the courts in the country. Since social institutions failed to provide cheap and fast justice, aggrieved persons had no choice but to approach the courts. Thus the entire judicial hierarchy was faced with manifold increase in court cases which their limited staff and judges were not able to dispose off in shortest possible time. Justice began to be delayed in our courts at all levels and a time came when alarm was expressed that the courts may never be able to decide most of the cases owing to various difficulties.
The Supreme Court of India was the first to respond to this urgency. As a result of its efforts, the entire judicial structure in the country was galvanized into action with the basic purpose of reducing pendency to minimum. The Apex Court formulated guidelines for the State High Courts with the flexibility of initiating at their respective level such measures as would help in reducing pendency. Fortunately, we in J&K State have a visionary Chief Justice in Justice M.M. Kumar, who, while responding to the call of the Apex Court, formulated the First Action Plan in this context and launched it last year. This Action Plan led the Principal and Sessions Judges of each district in the State consolidate the list of pending cases at all lower courts in the district. Simultaneously, these subordinate courts were directed to speed up the disposal of pending cases. The net result that has been received at the end of completing the First Action Plan in the State is that a total of 13,143 cases were disposed of/ decided by December 31, 2012. Such disposal in the Kashmir province was markedly high – 9,087 cases as against 4,056 in Jammu province. The overall pendency of such cases was brought down from 36,306 cases to 23, 163. Obviously, this is an encouraging report and consequently, the High Court was enthused to float the 2nd Action Plan in the process of reducing the number of pending court cases five years or more old. The 2nd Plan promises to be more effective and result-oriented. Under it all cases older than five years shall have to be disposed off by the end of the year 2013. Apart from this, it will make possible for the Chief Justice and the concerned Administrative Judges to keep a close eye on the disposal rate of every court. In order to facilitate the Presiding Officers of these courts to achieve the set goal, the Chief Justice, in coordination with the Administrative Judges, has held video conferencing with the Principal District and Sessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges and Sub-Judges/Chief Judicial Magistrates of Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramulla, Budgam, Jammu, Kupawara, Leh, Poonch, Pulwama, Rajouri and Ramban districts. Under the 2nd Action Plan each court will be authorized to send in the performance report direct to the State High Court enabling close monitoring of how fast justice is administered at lower levels.
Initiative taken by the Chief Justice is welcomed by all segments of civil society. It is relevant to note that the CJ was instrumental in getting the vacancies of judges filled at the level of State High Court. Hopefully his recommendation of similar action at lower courts will also be carried out expeditiously. We would like that the process of reducing pendency continues. The chief Justice has shown the way and this is the right course of resolving the problem of delayed justice.
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