Courts in State told to dispose of old cases on priority: Karnataka High Court CJ

Hubballi: As pending court cases in the State have been mounting over the past several year, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Abhay Shreeniwas Oka on Saturday said that instructions had been issued to courts to dispose of old cases on a priority basis.

Speaking after inaugurating the newly-constructed Hubballi Taluk Bar Association building, Justice Abhay Shreeniwas said the aim of the judiciary is to free itself from pending cases. "Instructions have been given to all the courts to take up 25 oldest cases on priority and dispose of them. Cases that are 5-10 years old will be disposed of first and no cases which are more than five years should be kept pending."

According to a recent report, as of February 27, 2020, the backlog stood at nearly 18 lakh. According to an estimation, even if every judicial officer and judge of lower courts and the high court work for 365 days, without a single leave, they will have to dispose of at least five cases a day to clear the mountain of pending cases.

The HC Chief Justice mentioned that governments, either Central or State, are litigants in more than 50% of the cases that are pending in various courts in Karnataka. "The judiciary in Karnataka has one of the best facilities in the country and in a recent meeting with the government the State judiciary has asked for 35-40 additional facilities, which are being considered by the government. Also the help of advocates is being sought for disposal of the pending cases."

The 26,000 sq ft taluk bar association building at Hubballi which was inaugurated is one of the biggest in the country. It houses a canteen, vehicle parking, chambers of association office-bearers, a centralised digital library, women advocates chamber and conference hall. The total cost of the building is estimated at Rs 9.8 crore. Speaking on the occasion, Heavy Industries Minister and former CM Jagadish Shettar assured of setting up 'Kaigarika Adalat' in Bengaluru and at district headquarters in coming days to ensure that majority of the cases pertaining to his department can be resolved over talk and cases are withdrawn from courts. "the government is contemplating making a policy decision for allocation of permanent funds for maintenance of government and judiciary buildings" he added.