Efforts to dispose of 3000 pending cases by April: Himachal Pradesh CJ

Efforts will be made to expedite cases pending before the Himachal Pradesh high court and a system would be put in place to ensure that no case lingers for over a year, its chief justice Kurian Joseph said today.

"I wish to make Himachal Pradesh high court a model court where no case lingers for more than one year," Joseph, who took up as chief justice last week, told reporters here.

It has been decided that by April 15  more than 3000 cases pending up to 2000, would be disposed of by, he said, adding that about 53,000 cases are pending in the high court at present.

He said a meeting of the subordinate court judges and judicial officers of the state has been called next month to instruct them for speedy disposal of cases.

Joseph said he would also look into the possibility of a separate HC bench at Dharamsala, a long pending demand of people of the state.

Supporting chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan's concept of setting up evening courts and gram nyayalaya (village courts) to deal with pending litigations across the country, he said he would also study the possibility of such an option in the hill state. The state HC and all subordinate courts would be fully computerised by April 15, he said.

Joseph said all judges of the high court have furnished details of their assets to him which would soon be put on the HC website.