JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

R.Venkatesh Santosh Pandhare Arun Nigam Ganesh Shendkar

Power of Judiciary lies not in deciding cases, nor in Imposing sentences nor in punishing for contempt, but in the trust, faith and confidence of the common man

Pendency of Cases Indian Supreme Court

60000

50000
40000 30000 20000 20000 55000

10000
0

2000

2010
Supreme Court

Pendency of Cases Indian High Courts

4,500,000 4,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 0

4,200,000 2,800,000

2000 High Courts

4

2010

Pendency of Cases Indian Sub Courts

30,000,000 25,000,000

20,000,000
15,000,000 10,000,000 5,000,000 0 2000 Sub Courts
5

28,000,000 20,000,000

2010

Increase of Pendency from 2000 to 2010 Supreme Court High Courts Sub Courts 148% 53% 36%

Reasons for Increase : 1. Increase in institution of fresh cases 2. Inadequate number of judges and vacancies 3. Inadequate physical infrastructure and staff 4. Frequent adjournments

Filing and resolution of cases - 2010

80 70 56 78 79

60
50 40 30 20 10 0

55 40 42

19 17 2.7 1.8 1.7 2.8 Supreme Court (Thousands) Pending (Year start) High Courts(Lakhs) Fresh filings Sub Courts(Crores) Pending(Year end)

Resolved

Vacancies across courts

200 150 100 50 0 Allahabad Calcutta Bombay 58 160 81 36 75 61 60

53 29
31

Madras

Supreme Court

Sanctioned
8

Current

Are there enough Judges ?

India has approximately 11 judges for every million people US has 110 per million in the United States. Indias Justice Ministry last year called for an increase of 50 judges per million people by 2013. But it is unclear how the government would pay for such a massive overhaul.
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SC: Why has LN Mishra murder trial dragged for 37 years?

- 16.12.2011

Chronology of Events 02.01.1975 LN Mishra killed in bomb attack 09.01.1975 Case handed over to CBI 01.11.1975 Chargesheet filed 27 year old advocate cited as accused is now 64 years old Has already suffered a heart attack 39 defence witnesses cited 31 have died 22 judges have heard the case so far The person killed was Prominent Union Minister Two decades ago, SC directed day to day trial A clear indication of our badly clogged judicial system
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The wheels of Indian justice grind slowly, but there are times when they dont move at all

o o o

Bengali Royal Familys Property in Old Bengal Pending for 175 years . Property belonged to Raja Rajkrishna Deb, a 17th-century landlord of Bengals Shovabazar royal family The stakes are high some seven mansions in north Kolkata, nearly 100,000 acres of land in what is now Bangladesh, large tracts of land in at least three districts of West Bengal, and half of erstwhile Sutanati, one of the three villages that make up modern Kolkata. Litigation started in 1833 Still running successfully in Calcutta High Court
11

No. of Under-trials in Jails double that of Convicts

3 2.5 2

1.5
2.6 L 1 0.5 0 1.2 L

Undertrials
Prisoners
12

Convicts

National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms

92,000 under-trial prisoners released Charged only under petty offences Sentence adjusted with period already undergone UP alone released 29,009 UT Prisoners

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Setting up Rural Courts

850 Rural courts to be set up in India Villagers get justice at their door steps Covers a jurisdiction of 67 village panchayats Also mobile courts to reduce pendencies Will reduce the difficulty of villagers in reaching courts in towns
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Lok Adalats
Alternative Dispute Resolution Peoples Court Deals with civil cases & compoundable criminal cases Presided over by retired judges No Court fees, No strict procedures Pending cases are transferred and disposed off 15 Consent of both parties

Appointment of Ad-hoc Judges

15,000 Trial court judges & 700 High Court Judges to be appointed on ad-hoc basis From a pool of retired judges and senior advocates Appointment for a limited period to clear backlog These courts will work in 3 shifts Aim to bring average pendency of case from 15 years to 3 years
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Justice seekers wait day after day, Month after month, year after year Even decade is passed but In course of justice they don't hear. Sometimes they pass away without getting the justice. Such delays lack faith In system amongst the public. Maggu's land was captured In an act of atrocity And his cow was stolen From his own vicinity.
17 With good efforts of police

But died before order of justice To return it, was graced. Maggu filed an other suit Demanding for compensation; His land dispute was already Pending under litigation. Finally justice prevailed He got verdict in his favour Compensation and his land Years he waited with fervor. But by the time justice given Old Maggu was dead This is how legal maxim Justice delayed is justice denied.

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