3,000 VILLAGE COURTS TO BE FUNCTIONAL IN MARCH:LAW MINISTER

3,000 VILLAGE COURTS TO BE FUNCTIONAL IN MARCH:LAW MINISTER 1/18/2009 As many as 3,000 Gram Nyayalayas (village courts) will start functioning across the country to de-centralise and speed up delivery of justice, Law and Justice Minister H R Bhardwaj said. The Finance Ministry has agreed to release Rs 600 crore for the project approved by the Cabinet, he said at a seminar organised by an industry chamber. Each court would be allocated Rs 20 lakh from the central pool. A meeting of chief justices of High Courts besides other stakeholders in implementing the scheme would be held on February 2, he said, adding the village courts would start functioning within a month after that. Replying to a question, the Law and Justice Minister said 50 per cent salary of the court staff, including judges, would be given by the Central government for first three years. Subsequently, the burden would be borne by state governments. The decision on the village courts was aimed at accelerating the delivery of justice and decrease pendency in subordinate courts across the country which stood at a staggering 2.5 crore cases, the Minister said. Pendency in High Courts and the Supreme Court stood at over 38 lakh cases and 48,000 cases respectively, he added. Justice Mukundakam Sharma of Supreme Court revealed that one fifth of the pending 2.5 crore cases were related to bouncing of cheques. The Ministry of Law and Justice has, meantime, prepared a draft to amend arbitration procedures which encourage litigation instead of solving civil and commercial disputes through conciliation and mediation. Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah said they would shortly set up arbitration centres on the premises of the appeal court to speed up disposal of such cases, adding the arbitration would be regulated by a trust which will make appointments of judges. Such centres would be required to solve cases within 18 months, he said, adding the period would include provisions for appeal. UNI

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