Steps to Reduce Pendency of Cases

Huge backlog and pendency has been a matter of concern as it delays the disposal of cases. Of the 3 crore cases pending, 74% are less than 5 years old. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice, said that Chief Justice of India has expressed the need of making the judicial system 5+ free by addressing 26% of the old cases which are of more than 5 years vintage. The Government has been constantly endeavouring and working towards improvement in judicial system in the country jointly with the judiciary. Shri Khurshid said that the Government has been undertaking computerization of courts since 2007 and has been investing on improving infrastructure in the judiciary since 1993-94. Of late, establishment of National Court Management System has been notified by the Chief Justice of India. This would be addressing issues of case management, court management, setting standards for measuring performance of the courts and a national system of judicial statistics in the country. Prior to that, the Government has in June 2011 set up a National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms. The objective of the Mission is to look at the requirement for policy changes, re-engineering of court procedures, propose/ undertake measures for human resources development and leverage information and communication technology for better justice delivery.

Shri Khurshid further informed the House that in order to free the criminal justice system of clogging, which is taking place on account of cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 serious efforts are being made to dispose them of on priority through special courts, Lok Adalats, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms. Instructions have also been given to the States to utilize funds under the Thirteenth Finance Commission for this purpose as well as for setting up special courts and morning/ evening courts to dispose of such cases.