Overload

The staggering volume of cases pending in various courts across the country often make one wonder as to whether there is, indeed, a solution in sight to this problem that is acquiring gargantuan proportions..In the course of one of my visits to the Patiala House Courts in Delhi, I was outraged to find that an accused person who was charged with an offence that carried a maximum sentence of ten years, spent that many years in prison as a UTP before being released and a few months later, he was actually acquitted by the court. The question remains, who can restore to this person his life, and the dignity he lost for a period of ten years?.The staggering volume of cases pending in various courts across the country often make one wonder as to whether there is, indeed, a solution in sight to this problem that is acquiring gargantuan proportions. As per current estimates, there are at least 30 million (yes 3 crore!) cases that are pending at various stages in the roughly 15,000 courts across the country. As per Justice S.B. Sinha of the Supreme Court, taking into account the current rate of disposal and filing of fresh petitions, the number of pending cases would have risen to a mind-numbing 24 crore by the year 2030!.Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees to Indian citizens the right of speedy trial, which is an extension of the philosophy of the Founding Fathers that “..no person shall be deprived of his life or his personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” In complete disregard of this philosophy, we have the rather unwarranted situation where the number of Under Trial Prisoners (UTP) is at least 10-12 times the number of convicts in jail after jail across the country. All these problems stem from the fact that there are about 1.62 crore criminal cases that are pending in courts across the country. The situation has reached a pass where judges who are overburdened with criminal cases are not able to devote time to cases which are civil in nature..From my own personal experience, I have seen that dates for consecutive hearings in the district courts in Delhi are typically three to four months apart in criminal cases (not including cheque bouncing cases), while this figure may be as high as 8-10 months in civil cases. To the injured litigant, judicial delays like these only mean mounting frustration and mounting expenses. This is what motivates him / her into trying to ensure that the dispute acquires “criminal” connotations – this is evident in the fall in the number of civil cases that are being filed in courts throughout the country. In the words of the Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, these people “[…] are seeking other alternative methods outside the courts- the extra-constitutional methods, that’s what we are worried about.”.The solutions to this problem are far from simplistic – while more courts, more judicial officers and support staff would certainly help, what is required is something deeper – the entire process of investigation, inquiry, trial, charge, recording of evidence, appeal, revision and retrial needs to be revamped. Also, we need to have time bound procedures in place for all of these and frivolous litigation and litigation by the Government should be immediately curbed so as not to waste judicial time. Further, Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR) mechanisms should be developed and strengthened and these can work wonders, especially in cases like cheque bouncing, electricity theft, etc. However, while creating tribunals / alternative fora, care needs to be taken to ensure that they have adequate powers and that appeals from the orders of these tribunals do not escalate mechanically to the level of the High Courts / Supreme Court since that will, in effect, not only defeat the purpose but also lead to further delays..While it is heartening to note that the rate of disposal of cases by various courts has been rising progressively over the years, it has certainly not been able to keep pace with the increase in the rate of institution of fresh cases, thus leading to the problem of mounting arrears. It is important to set targets with regards to disposal rates. It has been proposed by the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, that the target rate for disposal at the national level should be raised from the present 60% (of the total case-load) to 95% of the total case-load in five years’ time. This will require coordinated efforts at all levels of the judiciary, so that this target can be pursued at the district and state levels as well. Furthermore, Courts should ensure that not more than 5% of the cases pending before them are more than 5 years old (5×5 rule) within the next three years. The subsequent objective should be to ensure that in 5 years’ time, not more than 1% of the cases should be more than 1 year old (1×1 rule)..There are over seven lakh cases of cheque bouncing which are pending in the courts of Magistrates across Delhi and many of these involve extremely small amounts that are lower than Rs. 1000. Is it not proper that these cases be tried / heard at an alternative forum like a tribunal?.In the course of one of my visits to the Patiala House Courts in Delhi, I was outraged to find that an accused person who was charged with an offence that carried a maximum sentence of ten years, spent that many years in prison as a UTP before being released and a few months later, he was actually acquitted by the court. The question remains, who can restore to this person his life, and the dignity he lost for a period of ten years? My only hope lies in something that has recently been suggested by Justice Sinha – a system wherein we have no case pending for a period greater than five years.