The Law Ministry has introduced several reforms such as pro bono legal services and digital courts to ensure speedier disposal of cases. Is this enough? DNA looks at the ministry's hits and misses and evaluates whether it can truly meet its goals.
Reform of the judiciary has been of the utmost importance to the Modi government ever since it came to power over three years ago. The government's proposal of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill in 2015 which would replace the then collegium system - used by the judiciary to appoint judges both to the High Court and Supreme Court – saw both parties indulge in a war of words ensuring a roadblock on much needed reforms within the judiciary. However now, some of these reforms are underway.
Lack of judges
The lack of judges is perhaps the biggest issue facing the judiciary and the Law Ministry today. According to data available on the Department of Justice website, 24 high courts across the country are now working, with 672 judges, as opposed to the required strength of 1,079. This means that on average a judge is hearing and dealing with almost double the number of cases that he should be.
This shortage of 407 judges is taking its toll, as today there are over three crore cases pending in courts across India. Sources within the Law Ministry reveal that the Centre will focus on simply filling up the vacancies as and when a judge retires as opposed to increasing the strength of judges.
The lack of movement on this issue has naturally upset the judiciary with many exhorting the government to act on this issue. Former CJI TS Thakur said in 2016. "At present, there are several vacant courtrooms in India but no judges available. A large number of proposals are still pending and I hope the government will intervene to end this crisis."
Memorandum of Procedure
The appointment of Justice Khehar as the Chief Justice in January this year has seen the Supreme Court make its peace with the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) – a new system to finalise the appointment of judges - which had been a long standing thorn in relations between the government and judiciary.
Though the government is yet to approve the final draft of the MoP, the fact that there is some move towards agreement is a cause to cheer. Lack of agreement on the MoP has meant stalled appointments and non-movement of files, among another long list of issues that have plagued the judiciary. Thus, access to justice within reasonable time – a basic right accorded to us in the Constitution – has become an unlikely victim in this bitter public battle.
Today, while it has not been smooth sailing, the collegium has at least conceded on the government's demand on accepting integrity reports on judges prepared by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) before making appointments. This is a sign that things could slowly be moving forward.
Digital courts
One of the biggest successes the government has enjoyed is in pushing for digital courts. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad – who is also the IT Minister – has pushed for digitisation in order to ease the burden of cases. On July 3, when the courts re-opened, all fresh matters listed in the top five senior most courts began to be digitally filed. Paperless courts, government officials say, will cut down on time and bring about transparency in the system. However, they add, the system will take time to implement.
The government is encouraged by the fact that CJI Khehar has given his full support to the project. Speaking about the benefits of digitisation he said, "The system will automatically, through SMS and e-mail, inform the litigant about the court fee to be paid, the date of hearing and defects, if any that need rectification. This will infuse transparency in listing cases for hearing. We will gradually extend digitisation through the Integrated Court Management Information System (ICMIS) to the district courts level."
Lok Adalat
The other area, certain members of the judiciary feel, the government needs to focus on is the Lok Adalat. At a function earlier this year, Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi observed that though the number of cases resolved by the Lok Adalat was impressive in isolation, the numbers were "dismal" if compared to the general population of our country.
Figures show that in February this year, Lok Adalat courts cleared more than 9.43 lakh cases across the country. However, Justice Gogoi submitted that if one looked at the country's population of 1.3 billion, the numbers were just a "drop in the ocean."
"The budgetary allocation for judicial services has been a constant 0.04 percent," Justice Gogoi said while delivering an address on the concluding day of the two-day 15th All India State Legal Services meet in the national capital. Accordingly, the judiciary's impact was akin to the same, he observed.
Justice Gogoi also submitted that a proactive approach by the government to use funds that have remained largely unutilised would go a long way in clearing up the dock of accumulating cases. Figures from NALSA –National Services Legal Authority, a body formed to provide free legal services for the poor, and strengthen the Lok Adalat system, showed that as of 2017 there was a total unspent grant of Rs 13,21,33,066.
Legal schemes for the poor
Reacting to observations made by various top court judges stating that quality lawyers and para-legal volunteers were the need of the hour to help ensure greater access to affordable legal aid to marginalised communities, the government has started three schemes – Tele Law, Nyaya Mitra and Pro Bono Legal Services.
While Tele Law looks to provide legal advice to communities through state legal service centres, it will also look to provide advice through tele-conferencing. Pro Bono Legal Services, on the other hand, will set up a database of lawyers who will provide services free to those who cannot afford lawyers' fees. They can be accessed through a website. Finally, Nyaya Mitra will focus on reducing the number of cases in selected districts, especially focussing on those which have been pending for the last 10 years.
The government has said that the schemes, launched earlier this year, are already showing signs of success. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said recently that almost 200 lawyers have registered to offer their legal services pro-bono while 2.70 lakh service centres have been established across 2,500 panchayats to facilitate digital delivery of justice.
Arbitration courts
Earlier this month, the Union Law Minister announced the constitution of the Justice BN Srikrishna committee to suggest reforms in India's arbitration mechanism. The committee has since recommended key amendments in existing arbitration laws and the establishment of an Arbitration Promotion Council of India (APCI) among other suggestions.
The recommendations include setting up a dedicated bar for arbitration thus creating special arbitration benches for commercial disputes in courts. Government officials say that the idea for setting up this committee is to turn India into an international hub for arbitration and it will also help take the load off the judiciary in many cases.
"Changes have been suggested in various provisions of the 2015 Amendments in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act with a view to make arbitration speedier and more efficacious and incorporate the best international practices," Prasad had said at a press conference.
WHAT GOVERNMENT HAS DONE
- The sanctioned strength of judges of High Courts has been increased from 906 judges to 1,079 judges. A total of 173 posts were sanctioned between June 2014 and May 2016.
- The sanctioned strength of the subordinate judiciary has been increased from 20,174 at the end of 2014 to 22,288 in December, 2016.
- National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) organised the National Lok Adalat in July, 2017. More than 9.97 lakh cases with the settlement amount of Rs 2,925 crore were disposed.
- 1,824 redundant Central Acts have been identified for repeal. So far, 1,200 Acts have been repealed.
- A nation-wide drive to reduce cases pending in courts by curtailing Government litigation was launched. Minister of Law and Justice has written to Centre and state ministers to launch ‘special arrears clearance drives’ to reduce pending cases and minimise fresh litigations.
JUDGES’ APPOINTMENTS
2016
- 126 High Court judges and 131 Additional Judges were made permanent
- 22 Additional Judges of High Courts had their tenure extended.
- 4 judges were appointed in the Supreme Court
2017
- 5 judges appointed in SC
- 75 judges in High Courts
- 28 Additional Judges have been made permanent.
- 8 Chief Justices have been appointed in the High Courts
Source: Law Ministry
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