3 Crore Pending Cases: CJI HL Dattu (Supreme Court India) Says Trial To End Within Five Years
April 6, 2015
"We have taken a decision that we will try our best to see that there is no case pending beyond five years. Five years will be the maximum for the old case. Beyond that no. We are trying our best," Justice Dattu said after a conference of Chief Justices of 24 High Courts and Chief Ministers in New Delhi.
He was asked whether steps have been taken to tackle the pendency of cases as several of them have been lingering for as long as 20 years.
"We
have taken a decision that we will try our best to see that there is no
case pending beyond five years. Five years will be the maximum for the
old case. Beyond that no. We are trying our best," Justice Dattu said.
He clarified that five year deadline means that trial should end
within that time. But an appeal in a higher court may take some more
time.
Referring to the Supreme Court, he said "my judges are doing the best to see that the maximum life for a case in the court is not more than two years. We are making all efforts, we are taking all effective steps."
He said vacancies in judiciary was a big hurdle to deal with the issue of pendency.
Reducing backlog
- Chief Justice HL Dattu said: We have taken a decision to try our best to see that no case is pending in trial courts for more than five years, though ideally it should not be more than two years
- He rejected the proposal mooted in 2014 by the then CJI RM Lodha for keeping the courts open round-the-year by devising a method under which judges could take leave whenever they wanted, instead of having fixed holidays
Chief
Justice of India HL Dattu today said a decision had been taken to set a
five-year deadline for disposal of cases by trial courts as part of the
efforts to reduce the backlog.
“We have taken a decision to try our best to see that no case is
pending in trial courts for more than five years, though ideally it
should not be more than two years,” Justice Dattu said while addressing
the media along with Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda at the end of
the three-day conference with High Court Chief Justices. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi addressed the last day of the meet, known as the joint
conference of CJs and Chief Ministers. The first two days were
restricted to CJs.
Asked about the PM’s suggestion that the judiciary should have a
self-appraisal drill to correct its mistakes and achieve perfection, the
CJI said an “in-house mechanism” was already in place and “it is
effectively functioning. The high court CJs and the CJI are monitoring
it.”
Responding to a question as to whether the government was satisfied
with the “in-house mechanism,” Gowda said it was for the judiciary to
take a view. The government did not want to meddle with the independence
of the judiciary, he added.
Justice Dattu rejected the proposal mooted in 2014 by the then CJI
RM Lodha for keeping the courts open round-the-year by devising a method
under which judges could take leave whenever they wanted, instead of
having fixed holidays.
Though the SC was open only for 190 days in a year, its judges were
working almost on all days, either writing judgments or studying the
case files. “Going by my 20 years of experience as a judge, I can
certainly say that we work throughout the year, 24x7,” he said. Unless
the judge-population was raised substantially, reducing the number of
pending cases would be a problem, which should not be attributed to the
number of working days, he said.
A press release issued by the Law Ministry did not talk of any
concrete decision taken at the three-day meet. The CMs and CJs agreed to
pursue the dialogue process on a continuing basis at the state level to
resolve all the problems, including lack of infrastructure, it said.
“We have taken a decision that we will try our best to see that there
is no case pending beyond five years. Five years will be the maximum
for the old case. Beyond that no. We are trying our best…,” Justice
Dattu told reporters after a conference of Chief Justices of 24 High
Courts and Chief Ministers in Delhi.
He was asked whether steps have been taken to tackle the pendency of cases as several of them have been lingering for as long as 20 years.
He clarified that five year deadline means that trial should end within that time. But an appeal in a higher court may take some more time.
Referring to the Supreme Court, he said “my judges are doing the best to see that the maximum life for a case in the court is not more than two years. We are making all efforts, we are taking all effective steps.”
He said vacancies in judiciary was a big hurdle to deal with the issue of pendency.
“We have got our problems,” Justice Dattu said regarding vacancies. He said as compared to the population of the country, there are very less number of judges.
He also scoffed at suggestions that judges work only 190 days a year. He said these 190 days, judges work 24X7 and the rest of the time they spend at home reading and writing judgments. He said at times, they are unable to spend “fun time” with their families.
To a question on delay in finalising the Delhi gangrape case, he said now the issue is in Supreme Court and is one of the 23 death penalty cases pending.
He said in death penalty cases, the apex court is going by the year since it is pending. “As of now, it is looking at cases pending since 2012 and 2013.”
He said people have to approach court to get the matter listed out-of-turn. “The matter may take some time, but it will be settled soon,” he said.
Referring to the issues which came up at the meeting, he said the state chief justices have authorized him to take a call on having a uniform judicial service commission to appoint district judges and members to the higher judiciary.
He will now set up a committee of SC Judges to recommend him “best method and procedure” to appoint judges to higher judiciary and district courts.
Justice Dattu pointed out that some participants were of the view that written test for appointing judges in subordinate judiciary should be done away with as people fear failing in the test and they feel that it could damage their reputation as a lawyer.
He was asked whether steps have been taken to tackle the pendency of cases as several of them have been lingering for as long as 20 years.
He clarified that five year deadline means that trial should end within that time. But an appeal in a higher court may take some more time.
Referring to the Supreme Court, he said “my judges are doing the best to see that the maximum life for a case in the court is not more than two years. We are making all efforts, we are taking all effective steps.”
He said vacancies in judiciary was a big hurdle to deal with the issue of pendency.
“We have got our problems,” Justice Dattu said regarding vacancies. He said as compared to the population of the country, there are very less number of judges.
He also scoffed at suggestions that judges work only 190 days a year. He said these 190 days, judges work 24X7 and the rest of the time they spend at home reading and writing judgments. He said at times, they are unable to spend “fun time” with their families.
To a question on delay in finalising the Delhi gangrape case, he said now the issue is in Supreme Court and is one of the 23 death penalty cases pending.
He said in death penalty cases, the apex court is going by the year since it is pending. “As of now, it is looking at cases pending since 2012 and 2013.”
He said people have to approach court to get the matter listed out-of-turn. “The matter may take some time, but it will be settled soon,” he said.
Referring to the issues which came up at the meeting, he said the state chief justices have authorized him to take a call on having a uniform judicial service commission to appoint district judges and members to the higher judiciary.
He will now set up a committee of SC Judges to recommend him “best method and procedure” to appoint judges to higher judiciary and district courts.
Justice Dattu pointed out that some participants were of the view that written test for appointing judges in subordinate judiciary should be done away with as people fear failing in the test and they feel that it could damage their reputation as a lawyer.
But at the same time, CJI said people who cannot write will find it difficult to write judgments.
There were also strong suggestions to do away with evening courts as the issue has not caught up with litigants, he said.
There were also strong suggestions to do away with evening courts as the issue has not caught up with litigants, he said.
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