Union Minister for Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily has stressed the need to strengthen subordinate courts to improve the quality and efficiency of the Indian legal system.
Speaking as guest of honour at the inaugural ceremony of the centenary celebrations of the Kottayam District Court here on Saturday, Mr. Moily said the Union government was expecting a Rs.5000-crore outlay from the 13th Finance Commission for modernisation and strengthening of the subordinate courts in the country. The National Legal Mission envisaged making the Indian judiciary world class and modern.
Stressing the role of a strong judiciary as a perquisite for a strong democratic system, Mr. Moily said the government was moving ahead with modernisation so that the justice delivery system would ensure justice to the last man in the queue.
This could be ensured only if the subordinate courts, where 87 per cent of cases were filed, were strengthened. The government had taken steps to put in place 5,000 gram nyayalayas with the mandate to dispose of cases within six months of filing of cases.
In his inaugural address, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said the Supreme Court was faced with a major challenge. With 31 judges, the Indian Supreme Court was one of the largest national courts in the world and it was not advisable to increase the number of judges.
However, the number of cases filed in the court registered an annual increase of 10-12 per cent and during 2010, this was expected to reach an all-time high 80,000 cases.
