Find a way for a quick justice delivery system: Santosh Hegde

Former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde on Saturday said that speculative litigations are causing a burden on the justice delivery system.

Inaugurating the Mega Lok Adalat, organised by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA), Justice Hegde said that there is a need for a dialogue to find a way to quick justice delivery system.

Justice Hegde said access to justice is just one of the methods available to the citizens and exit from the justice delivery system is also important. The justice delivery system suffers from one deficiency, which is the delay in the closure of cases, he remarked.

“We have to address this problem of why so many cases are coming to this institution (judiciary) today. In my opinion, and I hope I am wrong, there is a lot of speculative litigation coming into the system. Just increasing the number of court and the number of judges does not solve this problem,” he said.

He said litigations go on for 35-40 years, up till the Supreme Court and throughout this time one enjoys the benefit of interim orders. “This speculative litigation is the one which is causing a burden on the justice delivery system. We have to find a way out of it. You have found a way for access to justice. You must find a way for a quick justice delivery system,” he said.

Justice Hegde said some of the developing countries have only one appellate court. Some specified jurisdictions on appellate authority may be one of the solutions, he suggested.

“There is no need for a second appeal, no need for appeal before the High Court. Specify the jurisdiction of the special courts. Don’t convert the superior courts into just nodal appellate courts,” Justice Hegde said.

Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, executive chairman of KSLSA Justice Aravind Kumar and judges of the High Court were present.

Around 2.74 lakh cases were identified for settlement in the third Mega Lok Adalat amidst the pandemic in the last seven months.