No change in situation even after DRPSC’s directive
*Issue raised in every session of Parl, admn unmoved
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 12: In a glaring reflection of prolonged administrative apathy, not a single Gram Nyayalaya has been made functional in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir even though the issue has been repeatedly taken up in Parliament and flagged strongly by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRPSC) on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.
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The Section 3(1) of the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 mandates that the State/Union Territory Governments, after consultation with their respective High Courts, may, by notification, establish one or more Gram Nyayalayas for every Panchayat at intermediate level or a group of contiguous Panchayat at intermediate level in a district or where there is no Panchayat at intermediate level for a group of contiguous Gram Panchayats.
The Act came into force with effect from October 2, 2009 in whole of the country. However, it became applicable to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh following abrogation of Article 370 and as per the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.
In the month of June 2020, the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of J&K UT issued notification mentioning that the headquarters identified for the Dehi Adalats in the year 2013 shall be deemed to be the headquarters of the Gram Nyayalayas.
However, these Gram Nyayalayas could not be made functional as no concrete decision has been taken by the administration about creation of infrastructure and manpower. Unless decision about manpower is taken these Gram Nyayalayas cannot be made functional as it is not possible for the judiciary to divert manpower for Gram Nyayalayas because the existing courts are already facing manpower crisis.
The inordinate delay in making Gram Nyayalayas in J&K operational is notwithstanding the fact that issue was raised in the Parliament in almost every session since 2021 and even the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, in its report tabled in the Parliament in the month of April this year, had stressed operationalization of Gram Nyayalayas in Jammu & Kashmir on priority.
“The release of funds is subject to the conditions that Gram Nyayalayas must be notified and operational; Nyayadhikaris (Judicial Officers) must be appointed and details must be updated on the Gram Nyayalayas Portal of the Department of Justice of the Government of India”, the Parliamentary Panel had observed and stressed that Union Territory of J&K should prioritize operationalization of the notified entities through development of their infrastructural facilities and deployment of required workforce.
Even today, the question regarding operationalization of Gram Nyayalayas was raised in the Lok Sabha and the written reply of the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law, Arjun Ram Meghwal clearly revealed that not even one Gram Nyayalaya has been made operational in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Government has repeatedly requested the UT authorities through regular correspondences and during meetings of Central Level Monitoring Committee to expedite operationalization of the already notified Gram Nyayalayas”, he said, adding “non -filling up of the post of Nyayadhikaris, non-availability of public prosecutors, notaries and general shortage of first-class judicial magistrates and insufficient staff are the factors behind the lack of enthusiasm”.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Gram Nyayalayas Act is aimed at providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of social, economic or other disabilities.
A person who is eligible to be appointed as a judicial magistrate of first class can be posted as Nyayadhikari and notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure or the Code of Civil Procedure, the Gram Nyayalaya can exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction in the manner and to the extent provided under the Act.
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