When I read this editorial from Economic times newspaper I got new dimension to the problem of pending judicial cases in various Indian courts. I am thankful to Mr.Bibek Debroy, (prof.Centre for policy research) for giving new perspective in form of solution for solving judicial backlog problem in India.He has used two important words “GENERIC” and “FOCUSED”. Generic means forming some uniform judicial policy so that it can be implemented in all stats in country to solve the problem of pending judicial cases. Focused means concentrating in that states and cities which have maximum share in this judicial backlog cases. SO Mr. Debroy poinyed cities Allahabad (another Bench), Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Punjab and Haryana, one will solve 60% of the backlog problem in high courts. . Similarly, 70% of the backlog problem in lower courts can be resolved by focusing on Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka and Rajasthan. So instead on spending on improving judicial structure in whole country focused attention and improvement on most vulnerable part of country which are prone to judicial backlog problem will wipe out judicial inefficiency at maximum level in India.
At the end Mr. Bibek Debroy did not forget to mention that majority of cases, “preliminaries have not been completed”. Preliminaries here means that process fees have not been paid, notices have not been served, pleadings have not been completed, case statements have not been filed and so on. Per case, these preliminaries take 710 days. Stated differently, these preliminaries are outside direct control of judiciary. They depend more on lawyers. Lawyers are responsible to complete these preliminary process so If one is making a general observation that lawyers (and litigants) are often responsible for delays, that’s a fair point to make. Especially in civil cases, once issues are framed, one almost knows the outcome. Whoever benefits from status quo tends to prolong the case.
So at the end it can be concluded that “FOCUSED” judicial reforms can solve pending cases problem in India.
