In India though there are not much of law suits filed for damages, most of the disputes in the country are family disputes, relating to partition and adoption etc., by sheer magnificence of population, We Indians litigate a lot, there used to be a saying that Indians not only are born in litigation and die, but also bequeth it.
At the present scenario we have only about 13 judges per million people. The Law Commission as early as in 1987 had recommended that the ratio must be increased to 50 per million but nothing has changed for the better in all these years.
The government have now established fast track courts to expediate the hearing and dispossal of cases, this is proving to be a progress towards speedy dispossal of cases.
As a lawyer I encounter one practical peril in the quick hearing of cases which is of adjournments. There is no firm rule or law which would curb seeking adjournments and hence the progress in the case could be seen only if both sides co operate with the courts and conduct cases without seeking adjournments on frivolous reasons.
It is not an exageration to say that a raw junior in Chennai is first trained in seeking adjournments giving all creative reasons including hospitalising his senior who is otherwise enjoying his snack in the canteen.
There are of course the other difficulties such as service of summons on the parties, filing of pleadings in time and rendering of judgment by the court. All these add up to the delay in justice.
The judicial system has now learned from its counterpart overseas and insists on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) meathods before filing of suits in courts. Already in commercial contracts the parties prefer to resolve disputes arising out of the contract through arbitration than to approach the courts and wait endlessly for a decision on it.
For although in the recent years Information Technology has develpoed by leaps and bounds particularly in this part of the globe, there is not much of it catching up with the judiciary here. In all these years the major change that IT has brought about in our courts are that the judgments these days are printed using computers.(dot matrix printers only please)
For the volume of records to be kept and mnaintained, I am sure the RDBMS packages would certainly improve efficiency of the courts; but there needs a major change in mind set here too.
I am able to see computers in almost all courts I attend, but they are kept among the pile of case papers- unused. Only one computer savvy court staff I could see has put the computer provided in the court he works to best use he can think of by playing solitaire during lunch.
15 comments:
13 judges per million, solitaire loving court staff....is this the reason that a lot of cases are pending since decades together??
I like the title "Justice delayed is Justice denied".
Archana,
abysmal index of judges to population ratio is one sure reason for the high pendency of cases (docket explosion as it is called) But one should not forget that my own bretheren in the the profession are using this to their short term advantages (of eating bajji in the canteen)which is another major cause.
There is no use in blaming the system as we have never had an occassion to try out the present system with all earnestness.
Vasu - i wanted to ask u for quite sometime..
Have u read "Count your chickens before they hatch" by Arindham Chaudhri. I read the book abt 3 yrs back and he had suggested appointing abt 5000 (not sure abt the number) judges on an immediate basis to clear the backlog. Is that something feasible? How exactly do they appoint judges?
Pani,
Although I have not read that book as I have nothing to do with chicken or eggs :-)) [just an excuse], the need for more number of judges was always felt in India. At no point in time, Indian judiciary had functioned in its full capacity is realy saddening to hear.
The selection process of judges is a combined effort of the executive and the Judiciary. The Judiciary to select and recommend names and Govt to appoint and pay these judges. Its an unfortunate sitauation that these selection process is always visited by red tapism and beurocratic delays.
Aurn Shourie's book on Governance throws more light on Governmental delays.The first chapter was really interesting to read.
Please forward me a copy if u are able to get an e book version of this and the chicken stuff...
Thanks for taking these posts seriously
I'd luv to read Arun Shourie's book sometime as I have heard him speak quite a few times at Vigil meetings in Chennai & have also read some of his articles in Express. One of the no-nonsense guys. Wd check it out in the net for the e-book.
That 'Chicken' book is with bhooma.. u may get it from her.
Chakkara
If say, we are going to appoint 5000 judges as Arindham says, there will always be someone with lot of "public interest". He will file a PIL seeking a stay to the implementation of order for appointing 5000 judges citing N reasons.
What more, there will be another summer vacation before judges could decide. And can justice prevail during a court hearing in a summer vacation? Emphatic No.
So the courts are on leave.
I stop here or else i am asking for trouble.
I think as is the case with other sytemic failures in our society, it has a lot to do with mindset and a lack of responsibility.
And "Justice delayed is justice denied" is a term used by MR V R Krishna Iyer first. Am I right Vasu?
Vasu, if you are not going to write about Torts, Constitution and Article 356,i am going to write soon.I tell you it will be a pain in the wrong place. So you better write and share some of your knowledge:-)
Please write more often.
Mangayar malar madhiri monthly oru post ellam velaiku avadhu:-)
Enna chakra?
Welcome Back Prabhu,
5000 judges or more is a requirement accross the nation so they cannot be appointted by a stroke of the pen, various state Governments will have to make the appointments if and when they find time. The Probability of a single PIL over these appointments is less. (cannot be ruled out though)
Courts going on vacation is what we have inherritted from the colonial days, I see no reason as to why there must be vacation for the courts apart from the regular holidays and festivals.
"Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer could have used it but he may not be the first.
You will see lawyers discussing all sorts of stuff than law; we are concious of not exhibitting our ignorance. I ll better bear the pain (or enjoy the pleasure) of your postings on Torts and Constitution than expose my short commings.
As far as the regularity of postings- I would be encouraged to write more if I see lots of comments/interaction on what I write. I dont want to be seen as a person talking nonsence sitting in one corner.
i remember my lawyer friend in coimbatore talking about that and he did mention Krishna iyer told that.(i assumed he was the first).
Gopika, Asin parkara time la(ok appo Simran) V R Krishna Iyer pathi pesina ipdi dhaan. we tend to assume a lot.
JTB,
where did I doubt? I only suggested through the post that appointing more number of judges, co operation of the litigants and effective use of IT could bring down pendency in courts.
I agree with u on implementing drastic measures with a vision; the difficulty here is there are more number of intellectuals and visionaries but very few to get down and work/implement.
We do see light somewhere as things cannot be any worse than this only change that could be would be for the better
> As far as the regularity of postings- I would be encouraged to write more if I see lots of comments/interaction on what I write.
- Its a vicious circle... only if you write more, ppl wd keep commenting regularly. It holds good the otherway too. :)
He he thanks guys this is my first post to have comments in double digits
alpa santhosham
Vazhakkil thodangi, Vazhakkam aagi
Vakkeelai nambi, Vazhukkai Valarnthu
Vaazhkai mudinthu, Vazhiyai marantha
pala kodi aathmaakkalukku intha comment oru samarpanam :-)
wow ithukku peyar thaan aasu kavithai yaa?
thanks thennavan
don't ottify the time with one post.. time for the next one.
Hi Vasu,
I enjoyed your article.I am seeing this in a family who are my close friends.It is 4 brothers and a law suite for partition of property.1 brother is occupying the ancestral property and not willing to either sell it or buy out his 3 brothers shares.
He has lost the case in court and does not give up and has gone to appeals.The Judge asked the family to mediate.This evasive brother does not show up even for Mediation(ADR) as he wants to drag it on forever.
Meanwhile I wonder what will happen if he finds an excuse not to show up in court on the date of Appeal.
Our Judicial system should be amended.They should bring in a time limit so that people like this selfish brother do not exploit the law to their advantage.It is a waste of Tax-Payers money.
Lakshmi A
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