Lok Sabha Question No. 1982 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-07
Subject: Delay in Justice Delivery
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: SHARAD TRIPATHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1982

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 07 TH  MARCH, 2018.

## Delay in Justice Delivery

## †1982. SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  jails  is  increasing  due  to  delay  in  the  justice delivery system; and
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  rectify  the situation?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) & (b): As per the information available in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the total number of  prisoners,  including  undertrial  prisoners,  lodged  in  various  jails  of  the  country  as  on 31.12.2015  was  4,19,623  and  as  on  31.12.2016  was  4,33,003.    Disposal  of  cases  pending  in courts, including criminal cases pending in various courts of the country, is the responsibility of the judiciary.  The Central Government is fully committed to assisting the judiciary to enable speedy disposal of cases in accordance with Article 21 of the Constitution.  It has undertaken many steps towards achieving this objective.  One important step is, strengthening of judicial infrastructure in districts  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for  'Development  of  Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary' wherein a total of Rs. 6,100 crore has been released since 1993-94, out of which  Rs.  2,655  crore  (43.52%)  has  been  released  since  April,  2014.    17,981  Court  Halls  and 14,467 Residential Accommodations have been made available for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on date. Out of this 2,356 Court Halls and 935 Residential Accommodations were constructed since 2014 to till date.  In addition, 3,139 Court Halls and 1,785 Residential  Accommodations  are  under  construction.    The  Central  Government  has  approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for 'Development of Infrastructure Facilities for  Judiciary'  beyond the 12 th Five  Year  Plan  period i.e. from  01.04.2017 to 31.03.2020 with an estimated outlay of Rs.3,320 crore.

Under  Phase-I (2010-15) of the eCourts Mission Mode Project ( the Project) undertaken by the Central Government,  against  a  total target of computerisation of 14,249  courts, the computerisation of 13,672 district and subordinate courts has been achieved.  This includes the installation of hardware, the LAN and software.  This has enabled the courts to upload the case status and orders online.  Status of cases and copies of judgments have also been made available on  the  websites  of  the  respective  District  and  Subordinate  Court  Complexes  which  have  been computerised.  Rs. 935.00 crore were allocated for Phase - I out of which Rs. 639.41 crore were utilized.

A budget outlay of Rs.1670 crores was approved for  Phase II of the  Project (from July, 2015  upto  31  March  2019).    The  facilities  of  e-services  such  as  cause  lists,  case  status,  daily orders, judgments etc. are being provided under the supervision of e-Committee of the Supreme Court  and  Computer  Committees  of  respective  High  Courts.    A  total  of  16,089  district  and subordinate courts have been computerised under the  Project till date.  Video Conferencing facility has also been opertionalised between 488 court complexes and 342 corresponding prisons during the period 2015-17.  The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) developed under this project provides updated  information  on  civil  and  criminal  cases,  including  pending  cases,  for  the  computerised district / subordinate courts in the country.

Another  initiative  with  a  focus  to  improve  access  to  justice  is  the  Tele  Law  Scheme launched  on  20 th April,  2017,  which  is  an  effort  to  provide  legal  advice  pro-actively  to  the marginalised  sections  of  society  through  Common  Service  Centres  (CSCs).    This  initiative facilitates delivery of legal advice through an expert panel of lawyers stationed at the State Legal Service Authorities (SLSA).  Under this Scheme, Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) connect potential litigants with lawyers through video conferencing facilities at CSCs which are, operated by Village Level  Entrepreneurs.    The  Scheme  has  been  launched  in  1800  Gram  Panchayats  in  11  States (U.P., Bihar, J&K, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim).  A total of 12,218 cases have been registered by PLVs under the scheme and legal advice has been provided in 9,094 cases.  The Government has also launched a scheme for Pro Bono Legal Services in April, 2017 in which interested lawyers and litigants can register on the website (www.doj.gov.in) to provide and avail pro-bono legal services as may be required.  So far, 224 lawyers have registered on the portal and more than 298 cases have been assigned for pro bono assistance.  In order to reduce the  cases pending in courts for over 10 years, the Government has recently introduced Nyaya Mitra Scheme covering 227 selected districts of 16 States.  Under the Scheme,  retired  judicial  officers  are  engaged  and  designated  as  'Nyaya  Mitra'  to  facilitate expeditious disposal of the cases pending over 10 years.  In the first Phase, 15 Nyaya Mitra's have been engaged.

In  pursuance of the  resolution  passed  in  the  Chief  Justices'  Conference  held  in  April, 2015, 24 High Courts have set up Arrears Committees to clear the backlog of cases pending for more than five years, except Sikkim High Court where there is no pendency of more than five year old  cases.  The  Supreme  Court  has  also  constituted  an  Arrears  Committee  consisting  of  two Hon'ble Judges to formulate steps to reduce pendency of cases in High Courts and District Courts.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 05.02.2016 had inter alia passed following directions on release of undertrials:

1. The Under Trial Review Committee under every District Judge should meet every quarter and the first such meeting should take place on or before 31st March, 2016.  The Secretary of the District  Legal  Services  Committee  should  attend  each  meeting  of  the  Under  Trial  Review Committee and follow up the discussions with appropriate steps for the release of undertrial prisoners and convicts who have undergone their sentence or are entitled to release because of remission granted to them.
2. The Under Trial Review Committee should specifically look into aspects pertaining to effective implementation  of  Section  436  of  the  Cr.P.C.  and  Section  436A  of  the  Cr.P.C.  so  that undertrial prisoners are released at the earliest and those who cannot furnish bail bonds due to  their  poverty  are  not  subjected  to  incarceration  only  for  that  reason.    The  Under  Trial Review Committee will also look into issue of implementation of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 particularly with regard to first time offenders so that they have a chance of being restored and rehabilitated in society.
3.  The  Member  Secretary  of  the  State  Legal  Services  Authority  of  every  State  will  ensure,  in coordination with the Secretary of the District Legal Services Committee in every district, that an adequate number of competent lawyers are empanelled to assist undertrial prisoners and convicts, particularly the poor and indigent, and that legal aid for the poor does not become poor legal aid.
4.  The  Secretary  of  the  District  Legal  Services  Committee  will  also  look  into  the  issue  of  the release  of  undertrial  prisoners  in  compoundable  offences,  the  effort  being  to  effectively explore the possibility of compounding offences rather than requiring a trial to take place.
5.  The  Under  Trial  Review  Committee  will  also  look  into  the  issues  raised  in  the  Model  Prison Manual 2016 including regular jail visits as suggested in the said Manual.

The  Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  has  written  to  the  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  on  3 rd February 2017 requesting for periodic monitoring of release of Under Trials prisoners so that every accused  person  receives  a  fair  trial  and  does  not  languish  in  jail  longer  than  is  absolutely necessary as per law. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated 05.09.2014 in the Writ Petition No. 310/2005-Bhim Singh Vs Union of India & Other relating to the undertrial prisoner has directed for  effective  implementation  of  Section  436  A  of  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure.  The  DG (Prisons)/IG (Prisons) of all States / UTs have been requested on 22.09.2014 to take necessary action to comply with the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter.

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