“Justice delayed is justice denied” is the old and oft-repeated axiom. Notwithstanding all the sincerity of the judiciary, the jinx of delayed justice has hardly been broken. Shortage of judges in the State is not the only reason for delayed justice. More importantly, the very complicated procedure of dispensing justice results in procrastination. Hundreds of thousands of cases, big and small, are pending at different courts for years at end. True, the question of providing cheaper legal support to weaker sections of society has been under consideration at the level of policy planners, Law Ministry and judicial authorities. Some mechanism is in place now in this respect.
Thanks to the vision of the sitting Chief Justice, Justice M.M. Kumar, who has initiated a pragmatic and workable method of speedy disposal/decision of huge bulk of pending cases in various courts. After due consultations with the Full Court on 27 September, he worked out an Action Plan and conveyed the roadmap to all judicial officers in the state for information and implementation. The crux of the Action Plan is that it is time bound, and delivery has to happen within the stipulated date. The 27th September Resolution of the Full Court enjoins upon all Principal/ Additional District and Sessions Judges to decide/ dispose of all cases of under-trials by December 31, 2012 against whom the police authorities field charge sheet/challan on or before December 31, 2007. They shall decide/dispose of by December 31, 2012 all criminal revisions filed on or before March 31, 2012. The Judges are asked to decide by or before December 31, 2012 all criminal challans other than those involving under trials wherein charge sheet/ challan has been filed on or before December 31, 2002 and dispose of by ending December 2012 all criminal appeals filed on or before June 30, 2011. The directive for the judges is to decide/ dispose of all criminal revisions filed on or before March 31, 2012 by December 31, 2012. These Judges have further been asked to decide by or before December 31, 2012 all criminal challans other than those involving under trials wherein charge sheet/ challan has been filed on or before December 31, 2002 and dispose of all criminal appeals filed on or before June 30, 2011 by ending December 2012.
Thus, we see that the Action Plan lays down strict timeframe within which courts will decide/dispose off specific cases. Obviously, it is a great relief to the litigants, especially those from weaker sections of society. The Action Plan of the Chief Justice does not end with issuance of instructions and modalities for quick disposal of cases. In addition, the Chief Justice has also devised mechanism to monitor the progress of the plan with various courts throughout the State. He is regularly interacting with the District/Additional District judges to update the rate of progress with which they are implementing the Action Plan. It is for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the State that such an Action Plan has been conceptualised and floated with the purpose of reducing the pendency syndrome in the courts of the State. The people in general and those involved in court cases will find big relief in this evolutionary step of the Chief Justice. The trend setting exercise will usher in a revolution of sorts in the entire judicial system of the State. The CJ has assumed the office just six months ago but has lost no time in trying to go to the roots of the pendency syndrome. Evidently, the reformative measure has come after deep study and analysis of the situation. He has endeared himself to millions of people and litigants who have been yearning for justice and equity at the hands of the judiciary.
All this is a welcome step and hopefully the harbinger of a big change in entire functioning of the judiciary. However, we are not aware if there is adequate human resource available with the judiciary to see the Action Plan through. We will need adequate number of judges proportionate to the population as well as the requisite strength of the secretarial staff to conduct business. We hope the Action Plan has taken into account that extra demand on the time and labour of the judges will not inflict any adverse or negative effect on the total delivery at the end of the day.
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