Lok Sabha Question No. 2754 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-04
Subject: Justice Delivery System
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Suresh Pujari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2754 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 04 th  AUGUST, 2021

## JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM

## 2754. SHRI SURESH PUJARI:

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

(a)  whether  there  is  any  proposal  to  strengthen  the  Justice  Delivery  System  in India  for  early  disposal  of  pending  cases  piled  up  in  different  High  Courts  of India and to ensure that justice is delivered at the door steps of the poor litigants and that too without delay and if so, the details thereof;

(b) if so, whether the Government will consider establishment of the Permanent Bench of Odisha High Court in Western Odisha in pursuance of the recommendation of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission Report; and

(c) whether the Government will take up the matter with the State Government and the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Odisha High Court and in consultation with the stake  holders  to  come  to  a  consensus  to  pave  the  way  for  establishment  of permanent bench in Western Odisha and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a): Disposal of pending cases in courts is within the domain of the judiciary.  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.    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. 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  six  years  under  various  initiatives  are  as follows:

- (i) Improving infrastructure for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts: As  on  date,  Rs.  8,644.00  crores  have  been  released  since  the  inception  of  the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary in 1993-94. The number of court halls has increased from 15,818 as on 30.06.2014  to  20,218  as  on  22.07.2021  and  number  of  residential  units  has increased  from  10,211  as  on  30.06.2014  to  17,815  as  on  22.07.2021  under  this scheme.  In  addition,  2,693  court  halls  and  1,852  residential  units  are  under construction. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been extended till 2025-26 at a total cost of  Rs.  9000 crores, out of which Central share will be Rs. 5307 crores. Besides, construction of Court Halls and Residential Units, it would also cover construction of Lawyer's Halls, Toilet Complexes and Digital Computer Rooms.
- (ii) 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 (in 2014) to 18,735 as on 01.07.2021,  registering  an  increase  of  5,063.    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 01.07.2021, litigants can access case status of over 18.77 crore cases and 14.61 crore order/judgements 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 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. With a view to handle the COVID- 19 challenges better and to make the transition to  virtual  hearings  smoother,  funds  have  been  provided  for  setting  up  235  eSewaKendras  at  court  complexes  to  facilitate  lawyers  and  litigants  needing assistance ranging from case status, getting judgements/orders,  court/case related information and efiling facilities. Rs. 5.01 crores has been allocated for providing equipment in Video Conferencing cabins in various court complexes to facilitate virtual hearings. Rs. 12.12 crores has been allocated for 1732 Help desk counters for efiling in various court complexes.

Twelve  Virtual  Courts  have  been  set  up  at  Delhi  (2  courts),  Faridabad (Haryana), Pune & Nagpur (Maharashtra) Kochi (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Guwahati  (Assam)  and  Bengaluru  (Karnataka)  to  try  traffic  offences.  As  on 12.07.2021, these courts have handled 75 lakh cases and realised Rs.160.05 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 started, the District courts heard 74,15,989 cases while the High Court heard 40,43,300 cases (totalling to  1.14  crore)  till  30.06.2021 using video conferencing only. The Supreme Court had 96,239 hearings since the lockdown period upto 09.07.2021.

- (iii) Filling  up  of  vacant  positions  in  Supreme  Court,  High  Courts  and  District  and Subordinate Courts: From 01.05.2014 to 01.03.2021, 35 Judges were appointed in Supreme Court. 602 new Judges were appointed and 551Additional Judges were made permanent in the High Courts. Sanctioned strength of Judges of High Courts has  been  increased  from  906  in  May,  2014  to  1098  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             |
| 29.07.2021 | 24,368                | 19,259             |

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  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.

Further Communications have been addressed by Minister of Law & Justice to Chief Justices of High Courts and to Chief Ministers on 20.06.2014 and 14.08.2018 drawing their attention  to cases pending for  more than five  years  and to take up pendency reduction campaign.

- (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 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) Lok Adalats are one of the Alternative Disputes Resolution mechanism u/s 89 of C.P.C.  Lok  Adalat  has  been  given  statutory  status  under  the  Legal  Services Authorities  Act  1987  recognizing  its  efficacy  as  an  expeditious,  less  costly  and speedier system of administration of justice by which Justice Delivery System is strengthened in the country. As per section 19 of the said Act, the Lok Adalat has jurisdiction  to take up any case which is pending before any court or any matter of dispute between the parties which has yet not been  brought to the court.    Lok Adalat  take  up  civil  matters  and  all  criminal  compoundable  matters,  whether pending in a court or at the pre-litigative stage.

LokAdalats are held at National and State levels. National Lok Adalats are held on single day in all the Courts and Tribunals of the country on dates decided by NALSA in the beginning of each calendar year. State Legal Services Authorities also  organize  Lok Adalats from time to time as per the local circumstances and requirements.

In  the  period  of  turbulence  caused  by  the  Covid  pandemic,  Legal  Services Authorities appropriately responded by creatively adapting to the new normal and moving Lok Adalat to the virtual platform.  E-  Lok  Adalat is  a  process  to  settle disputes, combining  technology and alternative dispute resolution  ('ADR') mechanisms which offers a faster, transparent and accessible option.

Although, these Lok Adalats take up both pending and pre-litigative matters, the focus is on reducing the pendency in the courts by taking up more matters actually pending  in  the  High  courts  and  also  lower  courts.  Lok  adalats  are  organised  at District and Taluk levels, including Talukas of remote and far flung areas also. To promote Lok Adalat, a provision is  made  to  refund/reimburse  court  fee  paid  by party (ies).  Parties can appear and put up their case without any representative.

- (vii) 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 30.04.2021,  870  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, 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, 28 States/UTs have joined the scheme for setting up of 842 FTSCs including 363 'exclusive POCSO Courts'. Rs.140 crore was released in the financial year 2019-20 and Rs. 160.00 crore has been released during the financial year 2020-21 for the scheme. Rs. 39.77 crore has been released till June 2021 for Financial Year 2021-22. 640 FTSCs are functional including  338  exclusive  POCSO  Courts,  which  disposed  50484  cases  as  on 31.05.2021.
- (viii) 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.
- (b) & (c):   High Court Benches, at a place other than its Principal seat, are established in accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh Commission and judgment pronounced by the Apex Court in W.P.(C) No. 379 of 2000 and after due

consideration  of  a  complete  proposal  from  the  State  Government  incorporating readiness to provide infrastructure and meet the expenditure, along with the consent of the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court and the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.

The State Government of Odisha has requested for setting up of Orissa High Court Bench in Western and Southern region of Odisha. The Central Government has requested  the  State  Government  of  Odisha  to  work  out  details  of  proposed  Bench including  its  location  in  consultation  with  High  Court  of  Orissa.  At  present  no complete proposal regarding setting up of bench(es) of Orissa High Court is pending with the Government.

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