Centre and State should be prudent in taking cases to courts

Union and State governments should show prudence in taking disputes to courts, Justice P. Sathasivam, Judge, Supreme Court, has said. “Of late, there is a tendency in Union Government and among State Governments to take issues to courts on the slightest of pretexts, and that causes unnecessary delay,” he said on Saturday while speaking at the function organised to lay foundation for court complex and judicial officers’ quarters here. “About five years ago, the Supreme Court had suggested the Government to form a high-level committee of IAS officers to screen cases that it wanted to take to court. I wonder if the Government had formed such a committee and if at all, whether the committee is advising the Government.” Justice Mr. Sathasivam referred to cases between Union Government and various State Governments, disputes among various State governments and individuals versus governments. Backlog of cases Referring to the backlog of cases in courts, he said as on December 31, 2008 the apex court had 49,819 pending cases and the lower courts 10.16 lakh. Though the Supreme Court tried to dispose of as many cases as possible, the sheer number of cases filed made it impossible to reduce backlog, he said. “In 2008 the Court took up 70,352 cases and disposed of 67,459 cases.” Family courts Listing measures initiated to reduce pending cases, Justice Mr. Sathasivam said the 1,562 fast track courts the Union Government had set up had disposed of about 18 lakh cases to date. The 190 family courts had also performed a good job. He then added that the Government had tabled a bill before Parliament to set up 4,000 ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ across the country to settle village-level cases at the local level. He also suggested setting up special courts to deal with cheque bounce cases. To drive home the point that the judges were doing well in disposing of cases, he pointed out that a judge disposed of about 4,000 cases a year, which was unparalleled. All the aforementioned steps were taken to ensure that the litigant public got justice at the earliest, he said and quoted Supreme Court’s observation that “Right to speedy trial is a Fundamental Right.” Justice Mr. Sathasivam then asked judicial officers in lower courts to give preference to cases related to senior citizens and matrimony. Litigants Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Hemant Laxman Gokhale said the infrastructure at Bhavani would go a long way in helping the litigant public as well as advocates. Justice K. Raviraja Pandian of the Madras High Court, Minister for Public Works and Law Durai Murugan and other senior members of the Erode and Bhavani bar participated in the programme.