Lok Sabha Question No. 4017 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-18
Subject: Hardships faced by Advocates
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: S. Jothimani

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4017

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 18 th  MARCH, 2020

## Hardships faced by Advocates

4017. MS. S. JOTHIMANI:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the hardships faced by advocates and litigants due to sudden non-functioning of courts and discharge of benches; (b) if so, steps that are being taken to avoid or resolve such problems faced in the judicial system; (c)  whether  the  Government  will  consider  a  suggestion  to  ensure  an SMS/email communication facility to inform the parties and advocates about the  adjournments  of  cases  and  discharge  of  benches  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; (d) whether the Government will issue guidelines to courts and State judiciary including  tribunals  to  ensure  real-time  updation  of  the  websites  with  timely uploading of judgements (in PDF) and search options and if so, the details thereof; and (e)  the  measures  that  are  being  taken  to  make  the  judicial  system  more
- accessible to the public?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)  and  (b):    Functioning  of  courts  and  discharge  of  benches  is  within  the  domain  of judiciary. Government has no role in this regard.

(c): Push SMS and automatic email facility are available in District Court through Case Information System (CIS) in e-Courts portal. Litigants and Advocates can register their Mobile Numbers and Email ID with CIS. The registered users get regular updates of their  cases  through  SMS  and  emails.  They  can  get  soft  copy  of  the  orders  and judgements of their cases through their emails.

(d): Uploading/updating of information on their websites is within the domain of judiciary. Government has no role in this regard.

(e): National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was set up in August, 2011 with  the  twin  objectives  of  increasing  access  by  reducing  delays  and  arrears  in  the system  and  enhancing  accountability  through  structural  changes  and  by  setting performance standards and capacities.  The Mission has been pursuing a co-ordinated approach  for  phased  liquidation  of  arrears  and  pendency  in  judicial  administration, which, inter-alia, involves  better  infrastructure  for  courts  including  computerization, increase  in  strength  of  subordinate  judiciary,  policy  and  legislative  measures  in  the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development. The major steps taken during the last five years under various initiatives are as follows:

- (a) Improving  infrastructure  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate Courts:  As  on  date,  Rs.  7,453.10  crores  have  been  released  since  the inception  of  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  (CSS)  for  Development  of Infrastructure  Facilities  for  Judiciary  in  1993-94.  Out  of  this,  Rs.4,008.80 crores (which is 53.79% of the total amount released till date) have been released to the States and UTs since April, 2014. The number of court halls
- has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014 to 19,694 as on 29.02.2020 and number  of residential units has increased from 10,211 as on 30.06.2014  to  17,432  as  on  29.02.2020  under  this  scheme.  In  addition, 2,814 court halls and 1,843 residential units are under construction.
- (b) Leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved justice  delivery:  Government has been implementing the e-Courts Mission Mode  Project  throughout  the  country  for  Information  and  Communication Technology  enablement  of  district  and  subordinate  courts.    Number  of computerized  District  &  Subordinate  courts  has  increased  from  13,672  to 16,845 registering an increase of 3,173 during 2014 till date.  New and userfriendly  version  of  Case  Information  Software  has  been  developed  and deployed  at  all  the  computerized  District  and  Subordinate  Courts.    All stakeholders  including  Judicial  Officers  can  access  information  relating  to judicial proceedings/decisions of computerized District & Subordinate Courts  and  High  Courts  on  the  National  Judicial  Data  Grid  (NJDG). Currently,  case  status  information  in  respect  of  over  13.13  crore  pending and  disposed  cases  and  more  than  11.46  crore  orders  /  judgments pertaining  to  these  computerized  courts  is  available  on  NJDG.  eCourts services such as details of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders  &  final  judgments  are  available  to  litigants  and  advocates  through eCourts  web  portal,  Judicial  Service  Centres  (JSC)  in  all  computerized courts, eCourts Mobile App, email service, SMS push & pull services. Video Conferencing facility has been enabled between 3240 court complexes and 1272 corresponding jails.
- (c) Filling up of vacant positions in Supreme Court, High Courts and District and Subordinate  Courts:  From  01.05.2014  to  29.02.2020,  35  Judges  were appointed  in  Supreme  Court.  522  new  Judges  were  appointed  and  443 Additional  Judges  were  made  permanent  in  the  High  Courts.  Sanctioned strength  of  Judges  of  High  Courts  has  been  increased  from  906  in  May, 2014 to 1079 currently. Sanctioned and working strength of Judicial Officers in District and Subordinate Courts has increased as follows:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 29.02.2020 | 24,018                | 19,160             |

Filling  up  of  vacancies  in  Subordinate  judiciary  falls  within  the domain of the State Governments and High Courts concerned.

- (d) Reduction  in  Pendency  through  /  follow  up  by  Arrears  Committees:  In pursuance of resolution passed in Chief Justices' Conference held in April, 2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years.  Arrears Committees have been set up under District Judges too.  Arrears Committee has been constituted in the Supreme  Court  to  formulate  steps  to  reduce  pendency  of  cases  in  High Courts and District Courts.
- (e) Emphasis on Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): Commercial Courts Act, 2015  (as  amended  on  20 th August,  2018)  stipulates  mandatory  preinstitution mediation and settlement of commercial disputes. Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been made by the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2015 for expediting the speedy resolution of disputes by prescribing timelines.
- (f)  Initiatives  to  Fast  Track  Special  Type  of  Cases:  The  Fourteenth  Finance Commission  endorsed  the  proposal  of  the  Government  to  strengthen  the judicial system in States which included, inter-alia, establishing Fast Track Courts for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children etc., and urged the State Governments to use the additional fiscal space provided in the form of enhanced tax devolution form 32% to 42% to meet  such  requirements.  As  on  31.12.2019,  828  Fast  Track  Courts  are functional  for  heinous  crimes,  crimes  against  women  and  children,  family and matrimonial disputes, etc. To fast track criminal cases involving elected MPs / MLAs, ten (10) Special Courts are functional in nine (9) States/UTs (1 each  in  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Tamil  Nadu,  Karnataka,  Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and 2 in NCT of Delhi)
- and  proportionate  funds  have  been  released  to  these  States  by  the Government. Further, Government has approved a scheme for setting up 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country for expeditious disposal  of  pending  cases  of  Rape  under  IPC  and  crimes  under  POCSO Act. As on date, 27 States/UTs have joined the scheme for setting up of 649 FTSCs including 363 exclusive POCSO courts. Rs.99.43 crore (out of the total  allocation  of  Rs.100  crore)  has  already  been  released  as  the  first instalment for FTSCs.
- (g) In order to reduce pendency and unclogging of the courts the Government has recently amended  various laws like the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Commercial Courts (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Specific Relief (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2018.

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