Lok Sabha Question No. 602 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Working Hours in Judiciary
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Balak Nath

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †602 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 09 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## WORKING HOURS IN JUDICIARY

## †602. SHRI BALAK NATH:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Law  Commission  has  recommended  the  Government  to  reduce holidays  and  increase  working  hours  in  the  higher  level  of  Judiciary  to  clear pending cases, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any steps have been taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

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

(a): The Law Commission in its 230 th Report on 'Reforms in the Judiciary - Some Suggestions'  had inter-alia suggested  that  considering  the  staggering  arrears,  the vacations in the higher judiciary must be curtailed by at least 10 to 15 days and the court working hours be extended by at least half an hour. The Report was forwarded to the Chief Justices of all High Courts to consider the suggestions for adoption.

The Supreme Court notified the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 on 27 th May 2014 wherein, inter-alia ,  it  is  provided  that  the  period  of  summer  vacation  shall  not  exceed seven  weeks.  It  is  further  provided  that  the  length  of  the  summer  vacation  and  the number of holidays for the court and the offices of the court shall be such as may be fixed  by  the  Chief  Justice  and  notified  in  the  official  gazette  so  as  not  to  exceed  one hundred and three days, excluding Sundays not falling in the vacation and during court holidays. The Supreme Court Rules, 2013 came into force with effect on 19 th August, 2014.

Working  days  in  the  high  courts  are  regulated  by  the  rules  framed  by  the respective high courts. The working days as well as working hours of the district/subordinate courts are also regulated by the respective high courts.

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.

(b) & (c): 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. 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.

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 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  has  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  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 crore, out of which central share will be Rs. 5,307 crore. 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 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  case  status  of  over  21.74  crore  cases  and  19.80  crore  order/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 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 3,240 court complexes and 1,272 corresponding jails. With a view to handle the COVID- 19 challenges better and to make 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  started,  the  District courts  heard  1,65,20,791  cases  while  the  High  Court  heard  75,80,347  cases  (totalling 2.41 crore) till 31.10.2022 using video conferencing. 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  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. In the past, Minister of Law & Justice has taken up the matter with Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief Ministers drawing their attention to cases pending for more than five years and to take up pendency reduction campaign. The Department 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 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,  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. 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.

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