When 'Mobile Courts' were first launched in 2004 in New Delhi, there were believers and sceptics in equal number. Almost 6 years after the concept was first launched, we have seen Punjab, Sikkim, Bihar, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and most recently, Maharashtra implement the concept of 'bringing the law to one's doorstep' in different avatars.

Yesterday, the acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice J.N. Patel launched the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority sponsored, 'Mobile Van Court' at Mumbra, a suburb of Mumbai. Delhi alone has a minimum of 3 vans doling out a variety of services in slums, unauthorised colonies, industrial areas, etc., including delivering justice, imposing fines and penalties, legal literacy and publicity material on socio-legal matters.

In a country where litigants have been known to die before the conclusion of a litigation, mobile courts are a boon for the litigants, as also the judiciary, which is bursting at the seams dealing with matters relating to petty crimes.

Gujarat, for example, has a mobile court that deals solely with Health and Sanitation matters. Uttar Pradesh on the other hand, has a mobile court presided over by the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, dedicated to grievances relating to government policies. Karnataka's mobile court is dedicated to delivering justice to the economically backward, who are exempted from paying the court fee.

These mobile courts, while not yet a widespread phenomenon, have received positive responses across the board. With these courts disposing of over 30-40 matters on a daily basis, these mobile courts have proven beyond doubt that bringing the law to the common man is not a difficult affair. More importantly, they could be just the mechanism to eliminate the large backlog of petty matters pending before the lower judiciary.