Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday stressed on the need to deliver timely justice and said the UPA government was committed to working with the judiciary to bring about improvements in the country’s justice delivery system. He was speaking at the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Bombay High Court here.
Dr. Singh noted that a number of initiatives and reforms had been instituted for this purpose and cited the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms that was launched last year to achieve the twin objective of increasing access by reducing delays and arrears, and enhancing accountability.
Initiatives taken
Recounting the initiatives taken by his government, Dr. Singh said a Constitution Amendment Bill on raising the retirement age of High Court judges was before Parliament, while a comprehensive proposal had been formulated for the establishment of an All India Judicial Service.
An inter-ministerial group was examining the required amendments in the Negotiable Instrument Act along with other measures, to check the increasing litigation arising out of cases of cheque-bouncing, he said. He further noted that a group under the Chairman of Law Commission was looking at improvements required in court procedure and processes to ensure a better criminal justice system.
Case disposal
Noting the improvement in the disposal of cases in various courts of the country, Dr. Singh said that it was heartening that the number of pending cases had declined by more than 6 lakh between July and December 2011.
“The Bombay High Court and its subordinate courts have contributed handsomely to this achievement, reducing their pendency by 5 lakh cases annually since 2010,” Dr. Singh noted.
Speaking on the glorious tradition of the Bombay High Court in enriching the Indian legal system, the Prime Minister said it was “remarkable” that the first Chief Justice, the Attorney General and Solicitor General of Independent India were from this court.
“It is even more remarkable that these three significant positions continued to be occupied by the products of this Bar [the Bombay High Court] even today,” he remarked.
Since 1947, 22 judges from the Bombay High Court have been elevated to the apex court and as many as eight of them have adorned the office of Chief Justice of India.
Keywords: judiciary, National Mission for Justice Delivery, Inter Ministerial Group, Constitution Amendment Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 150th anniversary of Bombay High Court
There are nearly 300,000 thousand law suits pending disposal in the superior court of the land. Allowing adjournments and granting permission to appeal in almost all cases must be stopped forthwith. When the judge feels that the suit is not worth hearing then it should be dismissed and there should not be any further appeals. Almost all our laws are based on British laws which are outdated and need immediate revision. There should be introduction of jury system just like US. There should be time bound disposal of suits and it should be scrupulously followed.
Yes, PM sahib, You are committed to deliver Justice ! But if crime is committed by your cabinet ministers or allies like DMK, SSP etc you show more commitment to your partners and take a dim view of even Intelligence and Audit reports that fix them fully for misuse and abuse of power; IS that fair, please think over and try change the system to ensur IT is absolutely independant and will not cow down to pressure or other tactics of those in power - we have many instances to prove Judge getting involved in scams indirectly too; show NO mercy at all towards them; fence eating the crop? Pity !! Pray Indians can and will get real justice at hands of Court !
Sermons without practice. Better ignore whatever he is saying.
Great to hear another hollow promise from a theorist. What justice happened after Radia tapes, 2G,Coal,Jagan to name just a few high profile cases? Your own FM is tainted. How much longer will this corruption, sychopancy and protectionism have to be tolerated? Stop promising. Just act if you can.
The current process of selecting judges of the Supreme Court of India is
by far the best in the world, i.e. if you want both independent and
neutral judiciary. A commission for judicial appointments will be a
prescription for chaos and politicize judiciary and the politically weak
will get short end of the stick. Without a powerful independent and
neutral judiciary, law and order in a diverse society like India will
fall apart.
Immediate need which is within the powers of the PM has been to fill up all vacant posts in all courts of the country within six months. Next step is to make CBI independent disassociating it totally from the Home Minstry. In this case too all vacant posts must be filled up within six months. All pending civil suits in all courts must be disposed off in a time bound program by drawing a road map for each district court, State high court and supreme court.
Study of law mean to help people to resolve their misunderstanding and
to live with others by accomodating. Sacrifice is the base of all
settlement of disputes. Whatever be the cause of dispute between the
persons Community has to see the truth and help the suferer.
Study of law is to earn one's living not to render justice in
general.This trend has to change for good.
To learn is to help others not to exploit others.
JUDICIARY has to change the total system in this direction.
Common man, citizen of this Great Country need to uphold the values
laid in Great Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
establishment of an All India Judicial Service....that sounds good!1
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