Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan has declared Moonnilavu panchayat as the first litigation-controlled tribal panchayat in the country.
Making the declaration at a function here on Saturday, Justice Balakrishnan stressed the need for the people to avail themselves of the benefits of various social welfare schemes initiated by Central and State governments. He said the District, State and National Legal Services Authorities would wholeheartedly support the people in availing the benefits of the projects formulated under the social welfare legislation.
Calling upon the people not to be hesitant in approaching the Legal Services Authority concerned, he said the functioning of the authorities in the State was commendable when compared to those functioning in some of the other States.
The real challenge facing the Indian judiciary was not the prolificacy of litigation, but an acute shortage of courts to hear them, Justice Balakrishnan said. The total number of pending cases in the country was only 3.56 crore. This shows the people were not obsessed with litigation.
However, on account of the acute dearth of courts, the number of cases posted daily in a court hovered around 60 or 70, he pointed out, contrasting it with the case of countries such as Israel and Belarus where the number was four or five.
It was against this backdrop that avenues like arbitration, adalats and other mediation efforts had gained importance as they would enable the prospective litigants to sort out the issue amicably, within the legal frame work. However, the courts had their own limitations in settling all the cases amicably and earlier, as they had to content with the not-so-friendly attitude of the litigants towards mediation efforts, he said.
The CJI pointed to the changing attitude to conciliation efforts. He said this attitude was a mark of the progress society had achieved. The role of education and the role played by institutions such as the church had to be factored in, as catalysts for the change, he said.
Justice P.R. Raman, acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, in his presidential address said the new challenge before the villagers was to move ahead towards a situation where the panchayat could become litigation-free.
Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice A.K. Basheer, both of the Kerala High Court; K.M. Mani, MLA; P.C. George, MLA; Jose K. Mani, MP; Anto Antony, MP and District Collector Mini Antony spoke. R. Jyothindranathan, District and Sessions Judge, welcomed the gathering.
P. Mohandas, District Judge and member-secretary, Kerala State Legal Service Authority, extended a vote of thanks.
