FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

PROJECT
ON

fast track court : a critique

SUBMITTED BY:

SUBMITTED TO:

TRIVENDRA KUMAR SINGH

ROLL NO: 152

Mr. MANWENDRA KUMAR TIWARI

FACULTY OF LAW

SECTION B

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA

B.A. LLB (Hons.), SEMESTER IV

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SIGNATURE OF STUDENT
PROFESSOR

SIGNATURE OF

ABSTRACT
The term justice must encompass a specific ideology, an ideology that it shall not
differ on any ground but recent developments in the methodology, the theory of justice has

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

undergone a change from being an objective to a subjective term. The concept of rule of law
states that Be you ever so high, the law shall always be above you but it is also essential
that for law to do its job, it shall be initiated in the proper fashion. This is where the theory of
access to justice comes into play. This concept enumerates the idea that path to justice must
be accessible by people belonging to all sections of the society and under no circumstances it
shall be denied to a person who is rightfully entitled to it.
Taking into consideration the dismal situation of the India Courts with regard to
speedy delivery of justice the Government of India has taken several steps in the path of
judicial reforms. The concept of Fast Track Court is one such step to provide speedy justice
to the victims. But recent developments have portrayed that fast track courts are on the verge
of losing its` efficiency due to various internal and external factors, raising concerns amongst
the legal fraternity to address this issue immediately.
This particular paper lays down a complete analysis of the emergence of fast track
courts in India and their role in promotion of efficiency of justice in the Indian Legal System
and how this particular idea is still being compromised based on irrelevant considerations.
This Research Paper thus seeks to address new routes to promote the concept of Fast Track
Courts as an effective tool for providing access to justice and to protect the same.

_____________________________________________________________

INDEX
PAGE NO.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

I.

II.

III.

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................

3.

A. Brief Overview of Access to Justice in India..........................................

3.

B. History of Fast Track Courts in India......................................................

5.

CONTEMPORARY CHALLENEGES TO FAST TRACK COURTS

IN INDIA.......................................................................................................

7.

A.FUNDING..................................................................................................

7.

B. JUDICIAL PROCEDURE.........................................................................

8.

C. MISCELLANEOUS...................................................................................

10.

NECCESSITY OF FAST TRACK COURTS IN INDIA................................

11.

A. PENDENCY OF CASES............................................................................ 11.

B. RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL ..................................................................... 12.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS...........................................

14.

IV.

CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 15.

V.

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................. 16.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Brief Overview of Access to Justice in India
The concept of Access to Justice has undergone dynamic changes since its inception.
Along with the wide ranged talks on poverty, Access to Justice has also gained a
significant platform when it comes to discussion on contemporary issues and challenges
faced by the people of this Nation. India today is a fast developing economy but we are still a
country with millions starving and where even fulfilling the basic necessities is still an issue.
The Constitution of India does not guarantee only mere political justice to its citizens but also
social and economic justice, creating interdependence. If the Justinian`s Corpus Juris Civilis`
definition of justice is taken into consideration it states that Justice is constant and
perpetual will to render to everyone that to which he is entitled, thus a broader view of this
statement shall mean that the rights guaranteed to a person are itself inherent in the notion of
justice.
Justice defined in the terms of rights would thus include the ability of a person to
approach the appropriate authority for effectively claiming the enforcement of their rights and
Access to Justice as the sum total of all those rights and remedies which area available to a
person through which he can seek enforcement of his/her rights. The role of judiciary has
always been to make the concept of justice real for the people at large and it needs to
continue to do so in the true sense and spirit for those consumers of justice who have been
constantly deprived of it.
The Constitution of India has a progressive set of Directive Principle of State Policy
which is influenced in part by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1The framers of the
Indian Constitution had the perception of encompassing a progressive range of economic,
social, legal and political ambitions while setting forth the Directive Principles of State
Policy. Besides incorporating socio-economic rights in the Directive Principles, India has also
acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR),2 which makes the progressive realisation of social-economic rights compulsory.

RAJESH KUMAR, UNIVERSAL`S GUIDE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 59 (2011); M.R. BIJU,
HUMAN RIGHTS IN A DEVELOPING SOCIETY 69-70 (2005).
2
India acceded to the ICESCR in 1979.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

The central question that needs to be visited in this regard is the law-society discourse in
India, to the extent of which Indian judges can and should play a greater role in securing the
rights of the people in need. The reason behind this is because those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged receive very less support from the local elected representatives
and civil servants and therefore the role of the judges and the judiciary as a whole is of
utmost importance in order to protect the rights of these people.
A prominent factor which also restricts an individual`s right to access to justice is the
client`s unfamiliarity with the legal procedure which leads to loss of enormous amount of
time of the lawyers who has to educate them about what can and cannot be done through
litigation. Legal Aid of minimum standard is provided at the bar or the state and thus it
becomes the duty of many judges to fill the role of the educator, representative and
adjudicator for the poor. Inspite so, the adjudicators in the specialised forums often lack
adequate training in the areas of labour, consumer protection, land, and social security.3
The civil justice arena of the Indian legal system also highlights a continued failure on the
part of the courts to provide remedies to the aggrieved parties in a timely manner. 4The
framers of the Indian Constitution while framing the Indian Constitution in the late 1940s, the
assembly members, when drafting Article 21, discussed due process, the right to life and
other issues.5 But the concept of speedy trial was not explicitly included in the Constitutional
text. It was only in 1979 that the Supreme Court had included that a speedy trial was a
fundamental constitutional right.6 The Legislature taking this right under consideration took
effective measures in order to curb the problem of pendency of cases. The legislative
sensitivity towards providing efficacious justice is mainly reflected in the Civil Procedure
Code, 1908 and the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure deals with the settlement of dispute outside the
court. It provides that where appears to the court that there exists elements, which may be
acceptable to the parties, the court may formulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer
3

J. Y.K. SABHARWAL, ACCESS TO JUSTICE (9th September, 2006),

http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/speeches/speeches_2006/cuttack.pdf.
4
MARC GALANTER & JAYANATH K.KRISHNAN, Debased Informalism: Lok Adalats and Legal Rights in
India, in BEYOND COMMON KNOWLEDGE: EMPIRICAL APPROACHES TO THE RULE OF LAW 96
(2003); ROBERT MOOG, WHOSE INTERESTS ARE SUPREME? THE ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES OF
THE CIVIL COURTS IN THE TWO DISTRCITS OF UTTAR PRADESH (1997); Jayanath K. Krishnan,
Social Policy Advocacy and the Role of Courts in India, 21 AM. ASIAN REVIEW. 91 (2003).
5
Transcript of the Constitutional Assembly Debates, Volume VII, at 1-20 (Dec 6, 1948), available at
http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol7p20b.htm .
6
Hussainara Khataaon v. Home Ministry, (1979) 3 S.C.R. 169.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

the same for arbitration, conciliation, mediation or judicial settlement. Alternate Dispute
Resolution or ADR can provide relatively fast and inexpensive resolution of some disputes,
frequently disposing of cases involving land disputes, petty criminal charges, and divorce in
less than a year.7 In part, this is because the parties appear pro se, relying on the judges who
free from common delay tactics are incentivized to expeditiously move cases forward. 8 The
absence of lawyers also gives the judges more opportunity to interact with the litigants.
Sometimes specialised court judges arrive at decisions much faster when they have become
specialist in that particular field of law that their tribunal is designed to oversee.9
B. History of Fast-Track Courts in India
Fast Track Courts were set in the first instance by the Central Government in order to
dispose off cases which were long pending cases which mostly comprised of session court
cases. The 11th Finance Commission sanctioned budget for creation of Fast Track Courts in
India. It created a scheme for the creation of 1734 Fast Track courts in the country. 10 The
Ministry of Finance sanctioned an amount of Rs. 502.90 crores as special problem and
upgradation grant for judicial administration. The term of this grant came to an end in
2005, and was renewed by the Finance Commission for the maintenance of 1,562 existing
fast track courts for another 5 years upto 2010.11 In 2000, the idea of fast track court enjoyed
at alot of varied mechanisms. The 188th Law Commission Report in this regard recommended
the setting up of a fast track commercial division at every High Court as a permanent fasttrack court to deal with high value commercial disputes.12 In 2008, the Law Commission
again recognised the importance of fast-track courts in dealing with the issue of backlog of
cheque bouncing cases, though it was recommended only as an ad-hoc measure.13
The end of the decade saw a paradigm shift in the concept of Fast Track Courts (FTC)
which then began to be identified only as an ad-hoc mechanism for dealing with the issue of
pendency of cases. In April, 2011, the Central Government topped funding the FTCs after
7

CHAAVI AGGARWAL, RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL, (last visited 19/10/15),

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l297-Right-To-Speedy-Trial.html.
8
JAYNA KOTHARI & APARNA RAVI, THE MYTH OF SPEEDY AND SUBSTANTIVE JUSTICE 7 (2015),
http://clpr.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Fast-Track-Courts-Report-Final.pdf.
9
Id.
10
MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, BRIEF NOTE ON THE SCHEME OF
FAST TRACK COURTS (2001), http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr2001/fmay2001/f010520012.html .
11
Id.
12
LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, PROPOSAL FOR SETTING UP OF HIGH-TECH FAST-TRACK
COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS IN HIGH COURT,(DECEMBER, 2003)
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/188th%20report.pdf .
13
LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, FAST TRACK MAGISTERIAL COURTS FOR DISHONOURED
CHEQUE CASES (NOVEMBER, 2008),http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report213.pdf .

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

which most of them were wound up. It is also interesting to note here that these FTCs were
set up in an ad-hoc manner and lacked legislative backing. 14 When the Central Government
decided to stop its funding for the fast track courts, it was challenged in the case of Brij
Mohan Lal v. Union of India15 where the Supreme Court decided to strike down the policy
decision of Union of India not to finance the FTC scheme beyond March 31, 2011. The
Supreme Court has however passed many judgments which aimed at improving the justice
delivery system and expedite the trail process in regular courts and fortifying the
independence of judiciary.16 The Court noted that the Constitutional mandate to provide for
fair and expedious trail to all litigants and citizens of this country. and thus directed that the
State and Central Government to create additional judicial posts within three months from the
date of the judgment. The Court also stated that the States have the liberty to either
discontinue the fast track courts scheme or to continue the fast track courts scheme as a
permanent feature, but that the States may not choose to continue the scheme on an ad-hoc or
temporary basis.17 The position of Central Government at the time was that States are free to
continue with the fast track courts scheme as long as they are able to fully fund such courts
themselves.18 Following the Nirbhaya case in 2012, the recommendations of the J. Verma
Committee and public sentiment favouring speedy justice also acted as a catalyst for setting
up of more fast track courts in India.
Thus as per the current Centre`s action plan, the fast track courts will be required to
dispose of 14 session trial cases and / 20 to 25 criminal/civil cases every month.19 The State
Governments and the High Courts have been requested to make effective arrangement for
representation on behalf of the prosecution and to ensure quick process service. The scheme
also envisages the appointment of ad-hoc judges from among the retired-sessions/additional
session judges, judges promoted on an ad-hoc basis and posted in these courts or from among
members of the Bar. The selection of the judges would be done by High Courts. The scheme
also envisaged setting up of an average of five fast track courts in each district of the
country.20

14

Brij Mohan Lal v. Union of India & Ors (2012) 5 S.C.R. 305.
(2012) 5 S.C.R. 305.
16
Id.
17
Jayanth K. Krishnan, Grappling at the Grassroots: Access to Justice in India`s Lower Tier, 27 HARVARD
HUMAN RIGHTS L.J 154.
18
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1837, answered on 01.12.2011.
19
DR. RAMESH KUMAR, SCHEME OF FAST TRACK COURTS (2013), http://ecurrentaffairs.in/wpcontent/uploads/2013/04/SCHEME-OF-FAST-TRACK-COURTS.pdf.
20
Id.
15

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

II. CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO FAST TRACK COURTS IN INDIA

The effectiveness of both the special fast track courts and other fast track courts for
securing justice for the citizens of this Nation has been under the scanner for a long period of
time now. Out of the 623 cases that have been assigned to the special fast track courts since
its inception, only 107 cases have been disposed of which only 18 cases resulted in
convictions. There are approximately 1192 fast track courts in India where the number of
pending cases is 6, 05,813.21 Such poor performance cannot be attributed to any specific
reason. People who have worked in these fast track courts call it to be fast track injustice as
these courts are sometimes given an unrealistic targets of cases to finish. They are asked not
to get involved too technically in the matter and that broadly, if they feel that the person is
guilty, then declare him to be guilty and if he is innocent, declare him to be innocent. This is
not how the criminal justice system or any justice system in the world works. Justice cannot
be provided on the basis of hunches and guess work and that it requires deliberate care and
attention. Judges are also found to be cutting down on evidence, not allowing full crossexaminations, allowing proceedings in absence of lawyers in many cases and thus it can be
stated that it not very a satisfactory system of delivering justice. 22 Hasty trials raises fear of
possible miscarriages of justice which the Law Commission of India summarised as Justice
delayed is justice denied and at the same time justice hurried is justice buried.23
It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of these courts from the statistics itself and
therefore an analysis of the individual factors contributing to the decline of efficiency of such
courts needs to be undertaken. The prime factors that have been highlighted time and again
are:A. FUNDING
Fifteen years after they were first set up, just half the fast track courts across
the country are still functional as proclaimed by the Law Ministry. Only five StatesAssam, Mizoram, Goa, Meghalaya, Kerala still have their fast track courts functional
21

PRS LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH, An Overview of Fast Track Courts (DECEMBER 31, 2012),
http://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/?p=2388.
22
WILLIAM GALO, Effectiveness of India`s Fast Track Courts Questioned
(2013),
http://www.voanews.com/content/effectiveness_questioned_of_indias_fast_track_courts_seeking_justice_for_ra
pe_victims/1578020.html.
23
SOUTIK BISWAS, Do India`s fast Track courts work? (2013), http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india20944633.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

as sanctioned in 2000.24 The fast track courts were initially set up to look into cases
which are pending for long but afterwards they were directed to try specific cases.
Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad also submitted that just 976 of the 1,734 fast-track courts
sanctioned in 2000 are still functional. When fast track courts were set up, a budget
of Rs 500 crore of Central funds were sanctioned for their establishment in the
States.25
The initial scheme was to run these courts for a period of five years and by
2005, 1562 were functioning as shown by the Law Ministry data. On the direction of
the Supreme Court, the direction of the funding was extended by another five years
and discontinued in March 2011. By then, the numbers of fast track which are
functioning were already down to 1,192.26 After the Delhi Gang Rape case, the Centre
had extended the scheme partially until March 2015 by providing upto 80 crore a year
as matching grant to meet the salaries of the additional judges but by July, 2014 the
number of fast track courts was down to 976.27 Currently, the number of fast-track
courts has significantly come down to 473 from 1192 in 2011. The 14 th Finance
Commission had endorsed establishment of 1,800 FTCs.28 Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh are the worst performers with none of their
sanctioned fast-track courts functional. Just 61 of Gujarat`s 166 fast- track courts are
still working, 39 of Karnataka`s 93, 92 of Maharashtra`s 187 and 85 of West Bengal`s
152.29
B. THE JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
The 120th Law Commission Report30 clearly highlighted that if legislative
representation can be worked out on the basis of population then there can be no
limitation as to why a similar procedure cannot be adopted when it comes to judicial
service. Population needs to consider in the sense of it being demographic and a
24

Rukmini Srinivasan, As funds dry up, fast-track courts close down, THE HINDU, August 17, 2014,
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/as-funds-dry-up-fasttrack-courts-close-down/article6324428.ece.
25
Id.s at p. 7.
26
Id. at p. 7.
27
Id. at p. 7.
28
Numbers of Fast-Track Courts have reduced to 473, THE ECONOMIC TIMES,(2015)
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-08-06/news/65280905_1_fast-track-courts-ftcs-such-courts.;
FINANCE COMMISSION OF INDIA, REPORT OF 14TH FINANCE COMMISSION (2015),
http://fincomindia.nic.in/ShowContentOne.aspx?id=9&Section=1.
29
Id. at p. 5.
30
LAW COMMMISSION OF INDIA, ONE HUNDRED TWENTIETH REPORT ON MANPOWER
PLANNING IN JUDICIARY: A BLUEPRINT (1987), http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/101169/report120.pdf.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

democratic unit at the same time. In other words, citizens with democratic rights
including the right to access to justice are the duty of the State to provide. The 120 th
Law Commission Report also recommended the a five-fold increase of the judicial
strength at all levels of the Indian Judiciary from 10.5 to 50 judges per million of the
population, pointing out that India`s judge-population ratio stands in poor contrast
when compared to several other countries.31
The Fast-Track Court scheme envisaged the appointment of ad-hoc judges for
a period of two years from amongst the retired sessions or additional sessions Judges,
members of the Bar and judicial officers who would be promoted on an ad-hoc basis.
The selection of the judges is to be made by the High Courts and the Centre had also
issued a direction to the State Governments to fill up the vacancies that might arise in
the wake of ad-hoc promotions through a special drive. They failed to take under
consideration the lack of accountability that might arise amongst the presiding officers
because of the offer of short term in office after retirement. 32 The fear which lies in
this regard is that litigants who wield influence at the District level can make use of
the scheme to their favour through expedious disposal of cases in which they hold an
interest which might sometimes lead to miscarriage of justice. The same concern was
raised in the case of Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh v. Union of India, 2001 where
the Bench observed that if the identification of the cases that the fast track courts
should try was left to the discretion of the Chief Justice of the High Courts, the
scheme would have worked better and also wondered that how retired District Judges
could be recruited as presiding officers and under whose jurisdiction they would be.
It has been observed that fast track courts are sometimes under extreme
pressure from the public in order to dispose of cases of great public importance.
According to the Department of Justice, the latest available information states that
around 32.34 lakh cases have been disposed of by these courts and out of 38.90 lakh
cases have been transferred to these courts leaving 6.56 lakh cases pending for
disposal. Thus, after looking at this data, a question that arises is whether the
principles of natural justice have been observed in all these cases or whether the
proper path has been bypassed in order to provide justice.33
31

Id. at p. 8.
DR. MADHABHUSHI SRIDHAR, MISCARRIAGE OF FAST TRACK JUSTICE (last visited Oct 10, 2015),
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/articles/misoj.htm.
32

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

The Best Bakery Case
This particular case can be regarded as a prime example of how fast tracking a
case can have serious repercussions if the procedure and evidence are not taken
properly by the Court in the beginning of the case. Approximately 14 people were
burnt alive in one of the post Godhra riots in Gujarat in the city of Vadodara in 2002.
The case was tried by the Baroda Fast Track Court No.1 which amidst the allegations
of the faulty procedure acquitted 21 accused. The trial continued for a period of 44
days. The court blamed the police for not doing their job properly and also that many
witnesses retracted their statements in the Court. Even the High Court upheld the
verdict it was only after the National Human Rights Commission intervened that the
matter was taken up by the Supreme Court which ordered a re-trial. Thus, it must be
noted that timely investigation is of great essence, and lapses by the police as well as
the Fast Track Courts can lead to miscarriage of justice.
C. MISCELLANEOUS
i)

Hostile Witnesses: One of the primary reasons why the large number of
acquittals in the cases that has been disposed of by the fast track courts has
resulted in acquittals was because the complainants, victims or other witnesses
have turned hostile. This can be regarded as the failure of the trial process
itself. The problem of witnesses turning hostile in the fast track courts is not
something which is new; many such occurrences have been noted before and
are still being continued in the same line.34

ii)

Consideration of Evidence: Recent studies conducted also highlights that in

few cases, judges possess lack of training when it comes to considering
evidence.35

III. NECESSITY OF FAST TRACK COURTS IN INDIA

33

HARLEEN KAUR, IN SUCH A HASTE- THE SYSTEM OF FAST TRACK COURTS IN INDIA, available
at: http://blog.ipleaders.in/the-system-of-fast-track-courts-india/.
34
The problem of hostile witnesses, available at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/theproblem-of-hostile-witnesses/article3182675.ece.
35
Supra at note 8.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

A. PENDENCY OF CASES IN THE INDIAN COURTS
At current there are around three crores cases which are pending in the Indian courts. The cry
for speedy justice is going to be shriller in next three decades as a conservative judicial
estimate predicts that case pendency is going to register a five-fold increase to touch 15 crore
but the judge-strength will go up only four times to settle at 75,000. At present nearly 19,000
judges, including 18,000 in trial courts, are dealing with a pendency of 3 crore cases,
resulting in a civil case lasting for nearly 15 years and giving credence to the adage justice
delayed is justice denied.36
The Union Law Minister has recently launched the Mission Mode Programme for
Reduction of Pendency of Arrears in Courts.Media Reports suggested that the programme
aims to dispose of 40 percent of the pending cases in subordinate courts across the country. 37
As on September 30, 2010, a total of 2.8 crore cases are pending in subordinate courts and 42
lakh in High Courts. Approximately 9% of these cases have been pending for over 10 years
and a further 24% cases have been pending for more than 5 years.38
Te pendency of cases have increased over 38% in the last decade with the about
55,000 cases pending with the Supreme Court, 42 lakh with the High Courts and 2.8 with the
subordinate courts. The amount of pendency has also increased by 148% in the Supreme
Court, 53% in the High Courts and 36% in the subordinate courts in the last 10 years. The
main reasons that had been highlighted by the Union Law Minister in his speech were:i)

Increase in institution of fresh cases.

ii)

Inadequate number of judges and vacancies

iii)

Inadequate physical infrastructure and staff

iv)

Frequent adjournments.39

Over the past few years, the Government has taken many measures in order to
facilitate expeditious disposal of cases. One such initiative was recently undertaken by the
36

India to have 15 crore pending cases by 2040 (JAN 17, 2013), THE TIMES OF INDIA,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-have-15-crore-pending-cases-by-2040-reportsays/articleshow/18054608.cms.
37
Nationwide
programme
to
reduce
pending
court
cases,
THE
HINDU,
http://www.thehindu.com/todayspaper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article2152615.ece.
38
Text of speech- Union Law Minister on the programme to reduce pendency in courts (July 1, 2011), available
at: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=72970.
39
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2569 (November 25, 2010).

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

Modi Government, when its law ministry wanted the Supreme Court to disclose greater
details about itself, including court-wise pendency of civil as well as criminal cases, number
of adjournments in each particular case and sanctioned and working strength of judges to
increase transparency in the legal system. The suggestions, given with intent to increase
transparency in the appraisal of judges, were given to e-court committee of the Supreme
Court that operates under the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). 40But despite such
initiatives, the rate of case disposal has not kept its pace with the rate of case institution.41
Vacancies across the courts are also very high. 33% of the sanctioned positions in
High Courts are currently vacant. Among High Courts, the highest number of vacancies are in
the Allahabad High Court (60%), followed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court (38%) and
the Calcutta High Court (28%).42
The number of under-trails in the Court is also an alarming issue. In June, 2009 there
were almost 3.8 lakh prisoners in Indian jails out of which 2.6 lakhs were undertrials. 43 In
early 2010, the Government had also launched a mission to release the number of under-trials
in the court and thus under this initiative, several cases related to under-trials have been taken
up.44Taking these issues under consideration, Chief Justice of India, H.L. Dattu stated that a
decision has been taken that efforts will be made in order to see that there is no case which is
pending more than 5 years.45
B. RIGHT TO SPEEDY JUSTICE
The Law Commission of India had recognised the importance of speedy trials as early as
in the year of 1958 by the Law Commission of India in its 14th Report. The Law Commission
had observed that in a civilised and welfare society, it is in the interest of the citizens that
cases which go for adjudication in the courts are being decided within a reasonable span of

40

HARLEEN KAUR, Hear Hear: Law Ministry wants more & more better data from SC about pending cases
& functioning (October 1, 2015), http://www.legallyindia.com/Bar-Bench-Litigation/hear-hear-law-ministrywants-more-better-data-from-sc-about-pending-cases-functioning.
41
PRS Report, VITAL STATS: Pendency of Cases in Indian Courts (July 06, 2011), file:///D:/Law%20(Sem
%20V)/Research%20Papers/AIL/1310014291--Vital%20Stats%20-%20Pendency%20of%20Cases%20in
%20Indian%20Courts%2004Jul11%20v5%20-%20Revised.pdf.
42
Court News, Supreme Court of India (last visited 10/12/14) ,http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/courtnews.htm.
43
Supra note 41.
44
GYANANT SINGH, Moily promises to free 2 lakh undertrials (January 26, 2010), INDIA TODAY,
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Moily%20promises%20to%20free%202%20lakh%20undertrials/1/80972.html.
45
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, Nearly three crore cases pending, CJI says trail to end within 5 years , THE
INDIAN EXPRES, April 5, 2015, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/nearly-three-crore-casespending-cji-says-trial-to-end-within-5-years/.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

time, as to provide certainty and definiteness to rights and obligations. 46 Relief which is
granted to an aggrieved party after a lapse of years loses much of its value and sometimes
becomes totally infructuous as held in the case of Ansuyaben Kantilal Bhatt v. Rashiklal
Manilal Shah47 clearly highlighting how delay defeats the cause of justice. The foundation of
this particular right lies in the case of Hussanaira Khatoon v. State of Bihar48, where J.
Bhagwati observed that:No procedure which does not ensure a reasonably quick trial can be regarded as
reasonable, fair or just and it would fall foul of Article 21 of the Constitution.
The justice delivery system should thus be responsive to the reasonable demands of the
times and should secure elimination of delays, speedy clearance of arrears and reduction in
costs so as to secure quick and economic disposal of cases without affecting the cardinal
principle that decisions should be fair and just. 49 The Constitutional (42nd Amendment) Act,
1976 inserted Part XIV-A to the Constitution of India consisting of Articles 323A and 323B.
Article 323A provides for the establishment of Administrative Tribunals for adjudication or
trial of disputes and complaints with regard to recruitment, conditions of service of persons
appointed to public services and allied matters and Article 323B provides for creation of
Tribunals for adjudication or trial of disputes, complaints etc.50
Redressal mechanisms for betterment of the consumers led to the creation of Consumers
Courts at the District, State and National levels.51Debts Recovery Tribunals have also been set
up to adjudicate on debts relating to debts/loans of Commercial Banks and Financial
Institutions.52 In order to achieve the objective enshrined in Article 39A of the Constitution of
India, the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 was enacted to provide for free and competent
legal services to the weaker sections of the society.The setting up of the Fast Track Courts in
order to ensure reduction of pendency of cases though was successful in disposing of 46,347
cases till March 30, 2011, it received many setbacks right from its inception as already
discussed.53 The Thirteenth Finance Commission recommended grants-in-aid for the
46

LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, 14TH REPORT, 1958, VOL. 1, P.129, http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/150/Report14vol1.pdf.

47
(1997) 5 SCC 457.
48
AIR 1979 SC 1369.
49
SHODHGANGA, RIGHT TO SPEEDY JUSTICE (last visisted 19/10/15),
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/10373/9/09_chapter%203.pdf.
50
Id.
51
Under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
52
Under the provisions of the Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993.
53
Refer to Part II of the Research Paper.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

improvement of justice in the year 2010. These funds were used for setting up of Morning/
Evening/ Shift Courses including other types of special courts with the objective of clearing
the backlog of cases. The State of Gujarat reportedly was successful in disposing of 57, 384
cases introducing the system.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS
Amidst the demand for setting up of more Fast track courts 54, systematic changes in the
system are of outmost importance in the current scenario to protect the concept of fast track
courts in India and to protect the interest of the poor litigants. Solutions to the problem:i)

Special Legislation: The basic problem that arises with regard to fast track courts
in India is the lack of legislation. These courts have been mainly set up in order to
respond to political pressure on an ad-hoc basis and therefore lack any proper
mechanism so required for their effective functioning. The lack of any special rule
or method of functioning also adds to the dilemma making these courts acting as
any other ordinary court. Thus a proper legislation, laying down procedures for
speedy disposal of cases is the need of the hour.

ii)

Training: Specialized training shall be provided to the judicial officers, lawyers

and registrars and more importantly, the legislation shall also include such
provisions for training.

iii)

Periodic Monitoring: The Fast Track Courts shall be made subjected to periodic
monitoring in order to keep a check on the effectiveness of such courts. The same
shall be done by including in the legislation a provision for data collection method
to monitor and evaluate the performance of these courts.

iv)

Procedure for judges selection: The Supreme Court has time and again noted that
the judges who are appointed to these Fast track courts lack the veracity and thus
the guidelines issued by the Court shall be strictly adhered to. 55 In addition to this,
a former FTC judge shall also be given incentive and other benefits that are
available to other retired judicial officers.56

54

ABHINAV GARG, Set up more Fast Track Courts for speedy justice to women, THE TIMES OF INDIA,
MARCH 9, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Set-up-more-fast-track-courts-for-speedyjustice-to-women/articleshow/46498228.cms.;
55
Brij Mohan Lal v. Union of India & Ors JT 2002(4) SC 605.
56
KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL, Fast Track Court Judges Appointed on a ad-hoc basis seek pension , THE
HINDU, September 20, 2015, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/fast-track-court-judges-

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

IV. CONCLUSION
Whether Fast Track Courts can be regarded as the future of the Indian Justice system is
still a question that awaits a conclusive debate taking into consideration the hardships it faced
when implemented in the first instance. As already been discussed in this Research paper, the
amount of pendency of cases in the Indian Courts is incomprehensible and therefore
addressing this situation, the efficient constitution and implementation of Fast Track Courts is
of vital important in order to give the Indian Judiciary, a chance of reducing its number of
pending cases. Fast Track courts with the help of proper funding from the Central
Government and by introduction of a proper Legislation to address all its issues and to keep a
check on its working, can make a big difference in the justice system of this country. Access
to speedy and appropriate justice is a fundamental right of the citizens of this Nation and thus
it is the duty of a welfare Government to take measures to introduce new mechanisms to
make the concept of Fast Track Court a grand success and to secure effective justice
accessible by the common people.

V. REFERENCES

BOOKS:-

1) RAJESH KUMAR, UNIVERSAL`S GUIDE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF

INDIA 59 (2011); M.R. BIJU, HUMAN RIGHTS IN A DEVELOPING
SOCIETY 69-70 (2005).
2) MARC GALANTER & JAYANATH K.KRISHNAN, Debased Informalism: Lok
Adalats and Legal Rights in India, in BEYOND COMMON KNOWLEDGE:
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appointed-on-ad-hoc-basis-seek-pension/article7669652.ece.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

3) ROBERT

MOOG,

WHOSE

INTERESTS

ARE

SUPREME?

THE

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES OF THE CIVIL COURTS IN THE TWO

DISTRCITS OF UTTAR PRADESH (1997)

ARTICLES:-

1) J. Y.K. SABHARWAL, ACCESS TO JUSTICE (9th September, 2006),

http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/speeches/speeches_2006/cuttack.pdf.
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AM. ASIAN REVIEW. 91 (2003).

3) CHAAVI AGGARWAL, RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL, (last visited 19/10/15),

http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l297-Right-To-Speedy-Trial.html.
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SUBSTANTIVE

JUSTICE

(2015),

http://clpr.org.in/wp-

content/uploads/2015/06/Fast-Track-Courts-Report-Final.pdf.
5) Jayanth K. Krishnan, Grappling at the Grassroots: Access to Justice in India`s

Lower Tier, 27 HARVARD HUMAN RIGHTS L.J 154.

6) DR. RAMESH KUMAR, SCHEME OF FAST TRACK COURTS (2013),

http://ecurrentaffairs.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SCHEME-OF-FASTTRACK-COURTS.pdf.
7) PRS LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH, An Overview of Fast Track Courts

(DECEMBER 31, 2012), http://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/?p=2388.

8) WILLIAM GALO, Effectiveness of India`s Fast Track Courts Questioned

(2013),
http://www.voanews.com/content/effectiveness_questioned_of_indias_fast_track_
courts_seeking_justice_for_rape_victims/1578020.html
9) SOUTIK

BISWAS,

Do

India`s

fast

Track

courts

work?

(2013),

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-20944633.
10) Rukmini Srinivasan, As funds dry up, fast-track courts close down, THE HINDU,

August

17,

2014,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/as-funds-dry-up-

fasttrack-courts-close-down/article6324428.ece.

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

11) Numbers of Fast-Track Courts have reduced to 473, THE ECONOMIC TIMES,

(2015)

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-08-

06/news/65280905_1_fast-track-courts-ftcs-such-courts.
12) DR. MADHABHUSHI SRIDHAR, MISCARRIAGE OF FAST TRACK JUSTICE

(last visited Oct 10, 2015), http://www.legalservicesindia.com/articles/misoj.htm.

13) HARLEEN KAUR, IN SUCH A HASTE- THE SYSTEM OF FAST TRACK

COURTS IN INDIA, available at: http://blog.ipleaders.in/the-system-of-fasttrack-courts-india/.

14) The problem of hostile witnesses, available at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-

paper/tp-opinion/the-problem-of-hostile-witnesses/article3182675.ece
15) India to have 15 crore pending cases by 2040 (JAN 17, 2013), THE TIMES OF

INDIA, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-to-have-15-crore-pendingcases-by-2040-report-says/articleshow/18054608.cms.
16) Nationwide

programme to reduce pending court cases, THE HINDU,

http://www.thehindu.com/todayspaper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article2152615.ece
17) HARLEEN KAUR, Hear Hear: Law Ministry wants more & more better data

from

SC

about

pending

cases

&

functioning

(October

1,

2015),

http://www.legallyindia.com/Bar-Bench-Litigation/hear-hear-law-ministry-wantsmore-better-data-from-sc-about-pending-cases-functioning
18) PRS Report, VITAL STATS: Pendency of Cases in Indian Courts (July 06, 2011),

file:///D:/Law%20(Sem%20V)/Research%20Papers/AIL/1310014291--Vital
%20Stats%20-%20Pendency%20of%20Cases%20in%20Indian%20Courts
%2004Jul11%20v5%20-%20Revised.pdf
19) GYANANT SINGH, Moily promises to free 2 lakh undertrials (January 26, 2010),

INDIA TODAY, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Moily%20promises%20to

%20free%202%20lakh%20undertrials/1/80972.html
20) PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, Nearly three crore cases pending, CJI says trail to

end

within

years,

THE

INDIAN

EXPRES,

April

5,

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/nearly-three-crore-casespending-cji-says-trial-to-end-within-5-years/.

2015,

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

21) SHODHGANGA, RIGHT TO SPEEDY JUSTICE (last visisted 19/10/15),

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/10373/9/09_chapter%203.pdf
22) ABHINAV GARG, Set up more Fast Track Courts for speedy justice to women,

THE

TIMES

OF

INDIA,

MARCH

9,

2015,

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Set-up-more-fast-track-courts-forspeedy-justice-to-women/articleshow/46498228.cms
23) KRISHNADAS RAJAGOPAL, Fast Track Court Judges Appointed on an ad-hoc

basis

seek

pension,

THE

HINDU,

September

20,

2015,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/fast-track-court-judgesappointed-on-ad-hoc-basis-seek-pension/article7669652.ece.
4) REPORTS
1) Transcript of the Constitutional Assembly Debates, Volume VII, at 1-20 (Dec
6, 1948), available at http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol7p20b.htm .
2) MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, BRIEF
NOTE ON THE SCHEME OF FAST TRACK COURTS (2001),
http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr2001/fmay2001/f010520012.html .
3) LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, PROPOSAL FOR SETTING UP OF
HIGH-TECH FAST-TRACK COMMERCIAL DIVISIONS IN HIGH
COURT,(DECEMBER, 2003
4) LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, FAST TRACK MAGISTERIAL COURTS
FOR

DISHONOURED

CHEQUE

CASES

(NOVEMBER,

2008),http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report213.pdf .
5) FINANCE COMMISSION OF INDIA, REPORT OF 14TH FINANCE
COMMISSION

(2015),

http://fincomindia.nic.in/ShowContentOne.aspx?

id=9&Section=1.
6) LAW COMMMISSION OF INDIA, ONE HUNDRED TWENTIETH
REPORT ON MANPOWER PLANNING IN JUDICIARY: A BLUEPRINT
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7) Text of speech- Union Law Minister on the programme to reduce pendency in
courts (July 1, 2011), available at: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?
relid=72970.
8) Court

News,

Supreme

Court

of

India

10/12/14) ,http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/courtnews.htm

(last

visited

FAST TACK COURT : A CRITIQUE

9) LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, 14TH REPORT, 1958, VOL. 1, P.129,
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/1-50/Report14vol1.pdf.