Lok Sabha Question No. 613 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Need for Localising Judicial Delivery
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Gopal Chinayya Shetty

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †613 ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 09 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## NEED FOR LOCALISING JUDICIAL DELIVERY

## †613. SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY :

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

- (a) whether the Government's attention has been drawn towards the remarks of the Chief Justice of India at an event organised by the Karnataka State Bar Council, Bengaluru  on  September  18,  2021  paying  homage  to  the  late  Justice  M.M. Shantanagoundar and stressing over the need to adapt to the practical realities of our society and localise our Judicial delivery systems;
- (b) if so, the response of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether Government has taken or proposes to take any steps in this regard in consultation with the Chief Justice of India; and (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a) & (b): The judiciary is an independent organ under the Indian Constitution. The government  is fully committed  to  the  independence  of judiciary and constantly endeavours  to  provide  a  conducive  environment  for  judges  to  discharge  their  judicial functions  smoothly.  The  Government  has  adopted  a  co-ordinated  approach  to  assist judiciary for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial systems, which, interalia , involves better infrastructure for courts, including computerisation, increase in the strength of judicial officers / judges, policy and legislative measures in the areas prone to excessive litigation, and emphasis on human resource development.

(c) & (d): Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary, by  adopting  to  the  practical  realities  in  the  society  and  localising  and  simplifying  the litigant  centric  justice  delivery  system  in  their  jurisdiction.  No  time  frame  has  been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. Government has no role in disposal of cases in courts. Timely disposal of cases in courts depends on several factors which, inter-alia, include availability of adequate number of judges and judicial  officers,  supporting  court  staff  and  physical  infrastructure,  complexity  of  facts involved,  nature  of  evidence,  co-operation  of  stake  holders  viz.  bar,  investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants and proper application of rules and procedures. There are  several  factors  which  may  lead  to  delay  in  disposal  of  cases.    These,  inter-alia, include vacancies of judges, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing. The Central Government is fully committed to  speedy  disposal  of  cases  in  accordance  with  Article  21  of  the  Constitution  and reducing  pendency.    The  Government  has  taken  several  initiatives  to  provide  an ecosystem for faster disposal of cases by the judiciary.

The  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  coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and pendency in judicial administration, which, inter-alia, involves better infrastructure for courts, including computerization, an 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 eight years under various initiatives are as follows:

## (i) Improving infrastructure  for  Judicial  Officers  of  District  and  Subordinate

Courts: As on date,  Rs.  9291.79  crores  have  been  released  since  the  inception  of  the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for the Judiciary  in  1993-94.The  number  of  court  halls  has  increased  from  15,818  as  on 30.06.2014 to 21,159 as on 30.11.2022, and number of residential  units  has  increased from  10,211  as  on  30.06.2014  to  18,557  as  on  30.11.2022,  under  this  scheme.  In addition,  2,673  court  halls  and  1,662  residential  units  are  under  construction  (as  per Nyaya  Vikas  Portal).  The  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  the  Development  of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been extended till 2025-26 at a total cost of Rs. 9,000  crores,  out  of  which  the  central  share  will  be  Rs.  5,307  crores.  Besides,  the construction of court halls and residential units, it would also cover the construction of lawyer's halls, toilet complexes, and digital computer rooms.

(ii) Leveraging Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for improved  justice  delivery: The  Government  has  been  implementing  the  e-Courts Mission  Mode  Project  throughout  the  country  for  information  and  communication technology enablement of district and subordinate courts. The number of computerised district & subordinate courts has increased to 18,735 so far. WAN connectivity has been provided  to  99.3%  of  court  complexes.  New  and  user-friendly  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). As  on 01.12.2022, litigants can access the case status of over 21.74 crore cases and 19.80 crore orders/judgments  pertaining  to  these  courts.  eCourts  services  such  as  details  of  case registration,  cause  list,  case  status,  daily  orders  &  final  judgments  are  available  to litigants and advocates through the eCourts web portal, Judicial Service Centers (JSC) in all computerized courts, the eCourts Mobile App, email service, and SMS push, and pull services. A video conferencing facility has been enabled between 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 corresponding jails. With a view to handling the COVID- 19 challenges better and  making the transition to virtual hearings smoother, 619 e-Sewa Kendras have been set up at court complexes to facilitate lawyers and litigants needing assistance ranging from  case  status,  getting  judgments/orders,  court/case-related  information,  and  efiling facilities. Rs. 5.01 crore has been allocated for providing equipment in video conferencing cabins in various court complexes to facilitate virtual hearings. Rs. 12.12 crore  has  been  allocated  for  1,732  help  desk  counters  for  efiling  in  various  court complexes.

21 virtual courts have been set up in 17 States/UTs viz. Delhi (2), Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala (2), Maharashtra (2), Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir (2),  Uttar  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Meghalaya,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Tripura, West Bengal, and Rajasthan to try traffic offences. As on 03.03.2022, these courts have handled more than 1.69 crore cases and realized more than Rs. 271.48 crore in fines.

Video  conferencing  emerged  as  the  mainstay  of  the  courts  during  the  Covid lockdown period as physical hearings and normal court proceedings in the congregational mode were not possible. Since Covid lockdown began, the district courts heard  1,65,20,791  cases  while  the  high  courts  heard  75,80,347  cases  (totalling  2.41 crore) via video conferencing till 31.10.2022. The Supreme Court had 2,97,435 hearings since the lockdown period upto 03.09.2022.

(iii) Filling  up  of  vacant  positions  in  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and  District and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 05.12.2022, 46 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 853 new judges were appointed and 621 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 1108 currently. sanctioned and working strength of judicial officers in district and subordinate courts has increased as follow:

| As on      | Sanctioned Strength   | Working Strength   |
|------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
| 31.12.2013 | 19,518                | 15,115             |
| 06.12.2022 | 24,994                | 19,205             |

However, filling up of vacancies in subordinate judiciary falls within the domain of the State Governments and high courts concerned.

- (iv) Reduction  in  Pendency  through  /  follow  up  by  Arrears  Committees: In pursuance  of  a  Resolution  passed  in  Chief  Justices'  Conference  held  in  April,  2015, Arrears Committees have been set up in all 25 High Courts to clear cases pending for more than five years.  Arrears Committees have been set up under District courts as well. Arrears  Committee  has  been  constituted  in  the  Supreme  Court  to  formulate  steps  to reduce pendency of cases in high courts and district courts. In the past, Minister of Law & Justice has taken up the matter with the Chief Justices of High Courts and the Chief Ministers of states drawing their attention to the cases pending for more than five years and to take up pendency reduction campaign. The Department of Justice has developed an  online  portal  for  reporting  by  all  High  Courts  on  the  compliance  of  Arrears Eradication Scheme guidelines of the Malimath Committee Report.
- (v) Emphasis  on  Alternate  Dispute  Resolution  (ADR): Commercial  Courts  Act, 2015 (as amended on 20 th August, 2018) stipulates mandatory Pre-institution Mediation and  Settlement  (PIMS)  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.

(vi) 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  31.10.2022,  838  Fast Track Courts are functional for heinous crimes, crimes against women, and children 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). Further, the central government has approved a scheme for setting up 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country for the expeditious disposal of pending cases of Rape under IPC and crimes under POCSO Act. As on date, 28 States/UTs have joined  the  scheme.  Rs.140  crore  was  released  in  the  financial  year  2019-20,  Rs.  160 crore has been released during the financial year 2020-21 and Rs. 134.557 crore has been released  during  the  financial  year  2021-22  for  the  scheme  Rs.  53.55  crore  has  been released during currant FY upto October, 2022. 731 FTSC are functional 412 exclusive POCSO Courts, which disposed more than 1,24,000 cases as on 31.10.2022.

(vii) In addition, 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.

(viii) Lok Adalat is an important Alternative Disputes Resolution Mechanism available to common people. It is a forum where the disputes/ cases pending in the court of law or at  pre-litigation  stage  are  settled/  compromised  amicably.    Under  the  Legal  Services Authorities (LSA) Act, 1987, an award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal lies against thereto before any court.  In order to reduce the pendency of cases in courts and also to settle the  disputes  at  pre-litigation  stage,  Lok  Adalats  are  organized  by  Legal  Services Institutions at such  intervals as it deems  fit.    Lok  Adalat  is  not  a  permanent establishment.    However,  as  per  Section  19  of  the  LSA  Act,  1987,  Lok  Adalats  are organized by Legal Services Institutions as per requirement.  National Lok Adalats are organized simultaneously in all Taluks, Districts and High Courts on a pre-fixed date.

The details of the case disposed off in Lok Adalats during the last two years are as under:-

| Years   | Pre-litigation Cases   | Pending Cases   | Grand Total   |
|---------|------------------------|-----------------|---------------|
| 2021    | 72,06,294              | 55,81,743       | 1,27,88,037   |
| 2022    | 3,10,15,215            | 1,09,10,795     | 4,19,26,010   |
| Total   | 3,82,21,509            | 1,64,92,538     | 5,47,14,047   |

- (ix) The government launched the Tele-Law programme in 2017, which provided an effective  and  reliable  e-interface  platform  connecting  the  needy  and  disadvantaged sections seeking legal advice and consultation with panel lawyers via video conferencing,  telephone  and  chat  facilities  available  at  the  Common  Service  Centres (CSCs) situated in Gram Panchayat and through Tele-Law mobile App.
- (x) Efforts  have  been  made  to  institutionalize  pro  bono  culture  and  pro  bono lawyering  the  country.  A  technological  framework  has  been  put  in  place  where advocates volunteering to give their time and services for pro bono work can register as

| Category             | Total Advice Enabled   | %      |
|----------------------|------------------------|--------|
| SC                   | 8,62,464               | 31.51% |
| ST                   | 4,90,729               | 17.93% |
| OBC                  | 7,94,986               | 29.04% |
| Women                | 9,19,389               | 33.59% |
| General              | 5,88,932               | 21.52% |
| As of 30th Nov 2022, |                        |        |

Pro  Bono  Advocates  on  Nyaya  Bandhu  (Android  &  iOS  and  Apps).  Nyaya  Bandhu Services also available on UMANG Platform. Pro Bono Panel of advocates have been initiated in 21 High Courts at the State level. Pro Bono Clubs have been started in 69 select Laws Schools to instill Pro Bono culture in budding lawyers.

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