Can't we have national budget for judicial infrastructure: SC

The Court also suggested creating a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for managing funds for developing a robust infrastructure for judiciary from the grassroots to the highest level.

"Can't we have a national budget for judicial infrastructure?" a special bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan said while deliberating on the issue of generating funds for strengthening the judicial infrastructure.

It said the SPV for judiciary could be evolved on the lines of CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) under which money is collected on the basis of Net Present Value (NPV) of the forest land diverted for non-forest use.

The Bench was of the view that a SPV for judicial infrastructure could be evolved by collecting funds in the form of court fees, costs and the money imposed as fine in criminal cases.

"Why should we not have seperate accounting of money recovered under these three heads (courtfee, cost and fine). There must be a method of accounting so that the money could be generated under these three heads for a SPV," the Bench said and sought a response from the Centre and state governments within two weeks.

Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium supported the idea of a SPV for improving the judicial infrastructure saying "investment must take place for the development of judicial infrastructure".

He said there should be a budget for a SPV. The Solicitor General assured the Bench that state governments will respond to its call and said there was a positive feedback during the last one year from various Bar Associations to augment the infrastructure of courts.