Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on judicial reforms, the President said: “Delays render the common man’s knock on the temple of justice a frustrating experience. Litigants are not able to lead normal lives being unsure of the verdict in their case.’’
In criminal cases, delays compel undertrials to suffer imprisonment for a longer period than what the law prescribes. She urged the judiciary to expedite the system to give early justice to the common man.
The government has decided to set up a national mission for the delivery of justice and legal reforms. Patil urged the government to have a relook into the archaic laws to make them in tune with present requirements, saying “making the language of law simple can prevent unnecessary litigation.”
Terming the pending cases as an “explosion of litigation,” she said the current figures reveal that the arrears in HCs exceeded 40 lakh cases and in subordinate courts 270 lakh.
Patil’s call came in response to Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia’s contention that more than 50 per cent of the cases counted as “arrears” were filed only a year ago. He said such cases could be described as “pending” but not as “arrears”.
Chief Justice Kapadia called for legislative, judicial and bar reforms. He said judicial reforms alone would not work. “You cannot have a chariot running on one wheel,’’ he said.
He said ever since the government took away powers under Section 24 of the Criminal Procedure Code that mandated consultation with the chief justices of the high courts before the appointment of public prosecutors, the quality of government pleaders had gone down.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks