Justice Delayed

Justice   Delayed   -   but   not   Denied

There are 300 + lakh cases pending before India's judiciary system , comprising ,

>    16,000  Trial  Courts

>     21   High  Courts

>     Supreme Court

 If you go by the average rate of disposal during the past decade , it would take more than 100 years to clear this backlog  !

Of course , by then , 400 lakh new cases would have been filed  !

So , it came as a pleasant - and welcome - surprise that , on last Saturday , Lok Adalats managed to clear , 35 lakh cases in 8 hours ! More than 10 % of the outstanding !

In Delhi alone , 300 Lok Adalat benches cleared 366,000 cases , with each bench clearing ( on an average ) , 3 cases per minute  !

In Mumbai , the record was clearance of 37,975 cases  !

Many were pending for more than 10 years  !

What kind of cases ?

>   Bounced cheques

>   Bank Recovery

>   Civil Suits

>   Motor Accident Cases

>   Service Matters

>   Family  Matters

>   Traffic Challans

>   Loan Disputes

>   Restoration of Water Connection ..... etc

How did Lok Adalats manage such fantastic rate of disposal  ?

May be because ,

>  No lawyer was present to accuse or defend  ! Litigants argued their own

    cases .  No vested interest to keep the cases going for  ever  !

>  Lok Adalats were televised live through web-casting. World was watching

>  No court staff

>  Rather than shuttle between courts for another 20 years , weary  litigants

   were happy with any " compromise "

It is said ,

"   Justice delayed is Justice denied  "

Our Lok Adalats proved that justice need not be delayed  !

Sam Pitroda ( Chairman , National Innovation Commission ) would agree that this is innovation par excellence  !

How about decorating the person who thought of Lok Adalats in the first place , with a "  Bharat Ratna  "  ?

*   hemen  parekh   (   25  Nov  2013  )