Family Courts in Chennai to sit on Saturdays

Family Courts in Chennai will sit on a regular basis on Saturdays considering the huge pendency of matrimonial disputes pending before the courts. It will be implemented from the coming Saturday.

If the parties or their representatives agree to get their cases listed on Sundays, the courts will function on those days also.

This initiative was taken by the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice M.Y.Eqbal, on the basis of a suggestion given by him at the regional conference on effective utilisation of funds allotted by the 13{+t}{+h} Finance Commission, here on July 4. This was appreciated by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, the Registrar-General, S.Vimala, said on Tuesday.

The nature of cases that would be taken up would be decided by the Presiding Judge having regard to the circumstances of the case after giving prior notice.

To begin with the arrangement would be introduced in the three Family Courts in Chennai. Later on, it is proposed to implement it in the three Family Courts in Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem.

The Registrar-General said the total pendency in the Family Courts in the State was 16,000 cases, including 12,000 in Chennai. This year alone, till June-end nearly 2500 cases, including 1300 original petitions for divorce, were pending in the Chennai courts.

Hearing on holidays would facilitate participation of employed couples and those who found it inconvenient to appear before the courts on working days. Adjournments due to non-availability of leave on working days would also be minimised.