Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Saturday urged the Law Ministry to devise a mechanism to relieve the judicial system of the “avoidable burden” arising out of “sheer apathy, indifference or incapacity” of the government and its departments to take certain decisions.
He also asked the government to set up a panel, comprising former judges, to decide whether or not to fight a case against any citizen when the issue could be resolved outside court.
He was speaking at the launch of a theme song for the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) here. The NALSA was constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, to provide free legal services to the weaker sections.
The CJI referred to certain “unnecessary” cases which could be screened before reaching court and solved at the administrative level itself. “We are doing justice, isn’t that the government also supposed to do? Why should we force the citizen to go to court at all. I would request the Government of India to devise some mechanism to resolve these issues outside court....You can have a panel of former judges of impeccable honesty. Let them decide,” he said.
Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, who addressed the inaugural session of ‘National Consultation on Challenges in Mediation and Way Forward’, proposed the digitalisation of 622 district NALSA centres to make them more efficient and effective.
‘Help acid attack victims’ He also asked the NALSA to help the victims of acid attacks. “I would recommend that victims of acid attack also be taken on a priority basis by framing a special scheme for them,” he said.
Senior Supreme Court Judge and NALSA executive chairman Justice A.R. Dave said mediation was the best way to resolve a dispute in the alternate dispute redress system. SC judges Dipak Misra and Madan B. Lokur spoke.
