Lok Sabha Question No. 591 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Scheme for Speedy Justice
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Arun Kumar Sagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †591. TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 09TH DECEMBER, 2022

## SCHEME FOR SPEEDY JUSTICE

## †591. SHRI ARUN KUMAR SAGAR:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  initiate  any  scheme  to  provide  speedy justice to the people;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)  the  number  of  courts  proposed  to  be  set  up  thereunder  in  the  country,  Statewise?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) & (b): Dispensation of Speedy Justice to the people  is within the domain of the judiciary.  No time frame has been prescribed for the disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts. Government has no  direct role in disposal of cases in courts. The  Central  Government  is  fully  committed  to  the  speedy  disposal  of  cases  in accordance  with  Article  21  of  the  Constitution  and  reducing  pendency  and  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.  There  are  21,159  court halls  have  been  made  available  under  the  scheme  so  far.  2673  court  halls  are  under construction. The state wise list is given at Annexur-I.

(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.

(c): Setting up additional Courts is within the domain of the State Governments and the  high  courts.  In  case  of  district  and  subordinate  courts, the  sanctioned  strength  of judicial officers has increased from 19,518 in year 2014 to 24,989 as on 30.11.2022. The increase of 5,471 judicial officers over the years caters to the requirements of additional courts  that  have  been  set  up  at  the  district  and  subordinate  level  for  disposing  off  the increasing number of cases and pending cases

High  Court  Benches  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 which has to provide necessary expenditure & infrastructural facilities and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court who is required to look after the dayto-day  administration  of  the  High  Court.  The  complete  proposal  should  also  have  the consent of the Governor of the concerned state.

Requests  for  establishment  of  High  Court  Benches  in  places  other  than  the Principal Seat of High Courts have been received from various organizations from time to time. At present, no complete proposal regarding setting up of Bench(es) is pending with the government.

******

## Annexure-I

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †591 FOR ANSWER ON 09.12.2022 REGARDING 'SCHEME FOR SPEEDY JUSTICE'.

| Sl. No.   | States &Uts         |   Total number of Court Halls |   Court Halls under construction |
|-----------|---------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman and Nicobar |                            17 |                                0 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh      |                           631 |                               99 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh   |                            29 |                                2 |
| 4         | Assam               |                           424 |                               99 |
| 5         | Bihar               |                          1556 |                               86 |
| 6         | Chandigarh          |                            31 |                                1 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh        |                           472 |                               21 |
| 8         | D &NHaveli          |                             3 |                                0 |
| 9         | Daman &Diu          |                             5 |                                3 |
| 10        | Delhi               |                           644 |                               50 |
| 11        | Goa                 |                            53 |                               28 |
| 12        | Gujarat             |                          1506 |                              140 |
| 13        | Haryana             |                           558 |                               75 |
| 14        | Himachal Pradesh    |                           151 |                               14 |
| 15        | Jammu and Kashmir   |                           194 |                               46 |
| 16        | Jharkhand           |                           659 |                                0 |
| 17        | Karnataka           |                          1186 |                              144 |
| 18        | Kerala              |                           535 |                               62 |
| 19        | Ladakh              |                             9 |                                0 |
| 20        | Lakshadweep         |                             3 |                                0 |
| 21        | Madhya Pradesh      |                          1543 |                              409 |
| 22        | Maharashtra         |                          2350 |                              498 |
| 23        | Manipur             |                            39 |                                8 |
| 24        | Meghalaya           |                            53 |                               30 |
| 25        | Mizoram             |                            42 |                               26 |
| 26        | Nagaland            |                            30 |                               12 |
| 27        | Odisha              |                           812 |                               53 |
| 28        | Puducherry          |                            36 |                                0 |
| 29        | Punjab              |                           589 |                               72 |
| 30        | Rajasthan           |                          1334 |                              192 |
| 31        | Sikkim              |                            20 |                                0 |
| 32        | Tamil Nadu          |                          1207 |                                0 |
| 33        | Telangana           |                           531 |                               45 |
| 34        | Tripura             |                            82 |                                8 |
| 35        | Uttar Pradesh       |                          2748 |                              289 |
| 36        | Uttarakhand         |                           241 |                               70 |
| 37        | West Bengal         |                           836 |                               91 |
| TOTAL     | TOTAL               |                         21159 |                             2673 |

Source:- Nyaya Vikas Portal