An alarming 61,300 cases were pending at the Supreme Court of India at the end of February 2015. Of these, 43600 cases were pending for more than a year and 12000 for more than five years. An equally shocking number of three crore cases were pending at various high courts as of December 2014. Hardly any case is decided without being adjourned 'x' number of times,'Taarikh pe taarikh'. Justice delayed is justice denied has become a worn out adage. The Supreme Court works for about 195 days and the high courts, for about 210 days in a year. Courts must function on all days of the year except for Sundays and public holidays. No need for the courts to go on long vacations - relic of a colonial era. It is high time that courts set targets and draw up a time frame to dispose of cases pending for more than five years within one or two years, if necessary, by constituting extra benches and by resorting to extra hours of duty.
R.G.Nakhate, The Free Press Journal, dated 11-04-2015.
R.G.Nakhate, The Free Press Journal, dated 11-04-2015.