JOIN USCourting justice in villages
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Acharya said to begin with one taluk will be identified in each of the four revenue divisions of the State. All the hoblis in the selected taluks will have ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ (meaning village courts), he said.
The parliament had passed the Gram Nyayalaya Bill, 2008 aimed at providing inexpensive justice to people in rural areas. As per the legislation, these courts will sit in rural areas. They will reach the designated destinations in buses, work there and dispose of the civil cases. The cost of litigation would be borne by the State and not by the litigant. A similar concept was mooted by the then State Panchayat Raj minister Nazeer Sab in 1985, but could not materialise.
Based on the response, the government will extend the concept to the entire State in a phased manner, Acharya added. He said the State government has agreed to the Centre’s proposal to appoint 25 per cent of the higher judicial service consisting of district and sessions judges in states through an All India quota.
The State had once again taken up with the Centre the need for setting up a circuit bench of the Supreme Court in Bangalore.