The Union Law and Justice Minister, Shri Veerappa Moily has said that the Indian Judiciary is held in very high esteem not only in this country and the other developing countries but also in the developed countries of the world. He said this while addressing the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts in New Delhi today.
Shri Moily said that in her address to the Parliament the Hon’ble President had highlighted the urgency to usher in judicial reforms. He said that Preliminary discussions have been held with key figures in justice implementation and we have called for a National Consultation on the issue of Judicial Reforms which will be held shortly. He added that that administrative reforms are a concomitant part of judicial reforms, and that transparency, good governance, fairness in decision making and impartiality of administration are all fundamental to the rule of law. Following is the text of the Union Law and Justice Minister on the occasion: -
“Another important aspect is that of making justice more easily accessible to the people particularly in the rural areas. The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 which enables setting up of Nyayalayas in the Intermediate Panchayat levels is a revolutionary way of bringing justice closer to people. The concept of Gram Nyayalayas is quite unique in contrast to the Gram Panchayat contemplated in the Panchayat Act. This will have a 1st Class Magistrate and deals with offences and relief under IPC, Central Acts, and relief under the State Acts (to be notified by the State Governments) as contemplated in the 1st Schedule of Part I, II and III of the Act and also civil disputes, property disputes and other disputes. These Courts contemplate summary proceedings and a time bound disposal within six months of the institution of the case. Once in operation, justice will be brought to the doorsteps of the common man.
I, therefore, urge that we put our act together to operationalise the Gram Nayalayas in the quickest time and that we start our first phase within six months.
I would like to inform that information and communication technology has been introduced in the Supreme Court, in 21 High Courts as well as around 15,000 District and Subordinate Courts in the Country. The Central Government has already sanctioned Rs. 442 crores in the first phase of its judicial reforms consequent to which computerization to the extent of laptops, laser printers, internet connectivity in the Court complexes and home offices of 13,250 judicial offices in the country has already been achieved. Training of Judges and Court staff in the use of information and communication technology is afoot. We are also thinking of developing 3000 sites in all the court complexes where hardware would be procured and application software would be developed and standardized.
I would request your cooperation in successfully implementing the project of computerization of the courts which is ultimately to be owned by the judiciary for better delivery of services and transparency to the stakeholders. My Ministry also implements a scheme for development of infrastructure for the judiciary where assistance is provided for construction of court buildings and residential accommodation for the judicial officers.
The Fast Track Courts were established on the recommendation of the Eleventh Finance Commission have made a significant impact in disposal of long pending sessions cases and cases of under-trial prisoners. The scheme which was initially up to 31.3.2005 has been continued upto 31.3.2010 and central assistance continues to be provided for this extended period. The matter of continuation of the Fast Track Courts beyond 31.3.2010 needs to be considered and may be deliberated here. In order to improve the credibility of the system there is a need to make the optimum use of the available infrastructure and resources including human resources. Capacity building of our judicial officers will help the judiciary in their performance and will also bring in a sense of higher commitment.
As per Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of judges, Chief Justices of High Courts are expected to initiate proposals 6 months in advance for filling up vacancies. This must be done so that the vacancies are filled up in time. Care should be taken to recommend candidates which have proven competence and un-impeachable integrity. The huge pendency in the courts is a matter of great concern to all of us. More than 2.5 crore cases are reportedly pending in the lower courts of the country and if we add numbers pending in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, the number may as well exceed 3.5 crore. Apart from the pendency and delays, what has been worrying most of us, is the number of under-trials in jails. Some of these under-trials have been in jails for a much longer period than they would have served if the sentence had been pronounced. At this Conference, we should devote some time to these issues also and come up with some workable solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner.
We intend to evolve a national litigation policy by which the Government is able to fight cases with discretion and care. The Government is in agreement with Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India that an attitude of taking firm, independent and impartial decisions if adopted by the Government would itself lead to a substantial reduction of arrears and would definitely control the inflow of litigation into the Courts of Justice. The major litigants/departments are advised to work out an integral mechanism to reduce litigation and resolve within the Government. This needs to be done at the State level also. There are also litigations between PSUs of the State Governments and PSUs of Union of India and also between State and Union of India and also vice versa too. This can also be dealt by a mechanism as it is done in case of PSUs of Union of India.
I welcome the concept of ‘… National Minimum Court Performance Standards…’ which are being visualized by the Judiciary. We in the Government must also have Judicial Infrastructure Supplement Standards so that the performance standards as visualized by the judiciary are effectively achieved. It may be noted that in a fairly ambitious programme the judiciary today visualizes that its disposal level must be hiked upto 95-100% of total case load in 5 years. Keeping this fact in view, our senior Law Officers, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, are looking at a blueprint by which this target is achieved within 3 years. I may add that in order to achieve such progressively high targets, it would be necessary for the Central Government and the State Governments to address issues of allocation of expenditure, swift budgetary estimates, single window clearances and rationalization of methods of accounts and audit.
We are also of the opinion that alternative dispute resolution methods must be adopted as a means of exploring conciliation, mediation as well as arbitration in a fair and transparent as well as effective manner. I am also happy to note that pursuant to the legislative intent behind Section 89-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, every High Court has a Conciliation and Mediation Centre. However, we are conscious that mediation and conciliation are not ordinary techniques of dispute resolution but require new skills and forms of knowledge in order to achieve synergy between the conflicting parties.
At present, we are also reviewing the various Law Commission Reports and tabulating their final recommendations. These recommendations will be implemented by the Government by resorting to introduction of necessary amendment acts before the Parliament.
With the rapid increase in commerce and trade, following privatization, liberalization and globalization, commercial disputes involving high stakes are likely to increase. Unless there is a new and effective mechanism for resolving them speedily and efficiently, progress will be retarded. Foreign investors in India must be assured that the Indian Courts are as fast as the courts in the most developed countries of the world and that there are no longer any long delays in the judicial process.
The Law Commission of India in its 188th Report on “Proposals for Constitution of Hi-Tech Fast-Track Commercial Division in High Courts” has recommended for constitution of Commercial Divisions in each High Courts so that they may handle ‘commercial cases’ of high threshold value on fast track basis. We should see how to bring this in force early. Law Commission 79th report drew attention to the unhealthy practice of the long delay in pronouncements of judgments and emphasised the need for reducing the lag between conclusion of arguments and pronouncement of judgments should not exceed one month except in some special matters. This recommendation must be taken seriously by all the members of the judicial fraternity.
Section 35 of the Civil Procedure Code deals with the award of costs and section 35A deals with the award of compensatory costs in respect of false or vexatious claims or defences. The Courts should make use of these sections more vigorously to prevent the abuse of legal process by vested interests. We are also conscious that in today’s world where the entire globe is a village, mobility of weapons and money are also problems which have to be faced by our laws and we must, therefore, enact provisions for these crimes which have developed on account of changes in the social fabric as well as the monetary systems in the world.
Judicial Impact Assessment requires both the State Government and the Central Government to make proper assessment of the requirement of impact of new laws of litigants/courts and to fully build the capacity in the Court while new legislations are made. A mechanism needs to be put in place both at the National and State level to make an appraisal while passing any new legislation. Justice Rao Committee had gone into this area and has made valuable recommendations which the Government is committed to implement without delay. This will address the problem of resource allocation to the judiciary.
During the Eleventh Five Year Plan an allocation of Rs. 1470 crores has been provided to the administration of the justice as against Rs. 700 crores during the Tenth Five Year Plan. Even this allocation would have to be stepped up substantially with our commitment to introduce more courts specially the Gram Nyayalayas for which the Central Government is committed to spend Rs. 1400 crores. The delivery of qualitative justice to our citizens is a promise for which all of us – as the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – are equally responsible. We must also realize that effective justice delivery mechanisms are substantial alleviants for social tensions and, in fact, go a long way in bringing about equanimity, restoring faith in the rule of law, and above all, in the very essentials of a democratic way of life.
We should be committed that the quality of justice must never be compromised and the essential elements of fairness, equality and impartiality must always be ensured. We are also aware that all citizens expect justice like a consumer product. Both the executive and the judiciary have to maintain and satisfy the tests of confidence, reliability and dependability.
We are glad to note that Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India has acknowledged repeatedly that judicial responsibility; accountability and independence are in every sense inseparable with the notions of fairness and rule of law. The appropriate steps are under way to respond to these needs of the hour and we will soon present a Vision Statement to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the purpose of outlining the way forward for the Judiciary.”
