For a modern judicial system

While delivering a guest lecture under the aegis of the Madabhushi Ananthasayanam Institute of Public Affairs, Justice K Jayachandra Reddy, the then Chairman of the Law Commission of India, expressed the opinion that the judiciary had never failed and it was only the people that failed the system by not playing their assigned roles properly.

The British and the East India Company which invaded India laid solid foundations for our judiciary. The emergence of Indian Penal Code, Criminal procedure Code and the Law Commission were landmarks of our judiciary.

Several people expressed concern over the increasing pendency of cases in the courts – nearly 5 lakh cases as per 1991 statistics – and one can term the judiciary as being conservative and out of such with the ground relatives of the contemporary society.

To relieve the pendency of cases in the courts, to provide speedy justice and to reduce the high cost of litigation some alternative dispute settlement mechanism is contemplated by establishing administrative tribunals. The tribunals were to consist of a High Court Judge, one senior officer or the secretary of the state government and a member of the public having administrative experience.

There are still appeals against the sentence of life imprisonment and the government is proposing to dispose of these cases by appointing additional judges. High Court benches are essential for dispensation of speedier justice as in UP and Maharashtra.

It has been the ardent desire of the government to take justice to the doorsteps and now some judges are now looking after consumer protection cases also. To impart justice to the needy, it is quite essential to have the Supreme Court benches here and there for the early disposal of pending cases. It is absolutely necessary to have benches in three regions, one each in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra and another in Telangana.

In USA, judges are made to undergo orientation courses in administrative justice. Likewise even in India, we must think of novel methods to speed up justice. As soon as the judge delivers judgement, the opposite party should immediately get a copy of the judgement and then file an appeal forthwith. Even a poor litigant should be given an option to engage a lawyer and to appear on his behalf.

The judges should be paid high salaries and their retirement age should be raised to 65. We should modernise the whole judicial system. There are about 5,00,000 cases before 18 High Courts and now the number of states has increased; litigation also would follow suit and a large number of cases are yet to be disposed of. The litigants are getting frustrated because of the inordinate delay in their disposal.

Several suggestions were made for the setting up of special tribunals. For labour and industrial disputes, the decision of the labour appellate authority should be final. For service matters, there should be separate tribunals. We should have special taxation courts.

In order to meet the requirements of a fast-changing society, new laws have to be made and existing ones need to be amended. By the amendment of civil and criminal procedure codes, cases can be disposed of very quickly.

The service conditions of judges also should be improved so as to attract better talent and calibre from among the lawyers. The delay in appointing judges is another reason for the inordinate delay in the disposal of cases. As soon as a vacancy occurs, it should be filled expeditiously.

Adjournments cause delay. Generally, courts in India are very liberal in granting adjournments. Miscellaneous petitions should be disposed of summarily. Citation of cases from High Courts and Supreme Court take up most of the time of the hearing.

Judges should encourage the practice of written briefs or written arguments. Lawyers should not be a party to the law’s delays by seeking long adjournments and avoiding a particular judge. Frivolous interlocutory applications should not be filed. (The writer is former Speaker, AP Legislative Assembly)

By Dr Agarala Eswara Reddi