One of the biggest hurdles in the delivery of justice is the huge pendency of cases before courts, said Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Biennial State-Level Conference of Judicial Officers with the theme, ‘Dispensation of justice: qualitative, responsive and timely’, organised by the Karnataka State Judicial Officers’ Association here on Saturday.
Pending cases could be dealt with by the judiciary through reform and a focus on modern management and social relevance, he said, adding that judicial officers had to look beyond merely reducing litigation. Though there was no dearth of legal minds in the country, there was still criticism that the delivery of justice was slow and ineffective. In that context, he said judicial officers must possess character, merit and integrity, which were qualities that developed over weeks, months and years. He said, “I don’t ask for a revolutionary movement, but small and simple actions by each of us.”
T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Law, said in Karnataka, there were 12,36,506 cases pending at the district-level. Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court D.H. Waghela said 12.5 lakh cases were disposed of this year in two Lok Adalats. These were part of 17.4 lakh cases of which four lakh cases were shown as pending. He said in terms of efficiency, Karnataka topped the list with minimum number of cases that were five years old. The State was No. 1 in computerisation and infrastructure, and a majority of cases did not go to higher courts. At present, computerisation of judicial processes was being planned for the next 20 to 25 years.
