Justice delayed is Justice Denied
This
saying might have originated in Britain but it seems Chinese are taking it
seriously
And
the Chinese do not need to debate issues endlessly without reaching any
conclusion
They
like to move at the WARP speed
Here
is the latest example :
Highlights :
· An internet-based court that runs 24/7
· internet-related cases will be tried online
· Courts will stay open perpetually and
plaintiffs can file cases anytime.
· People can "file a case online instead
of going to the court with paper-based material
· a new model of social governance system
· Citizens can log onto the litigation service
platform to file cases
· Cases would be heard online through
video-call
· 12,000 cases were heard and 10,600 were
closed during the past year
But , closer at home , it is a very different
story , as following news suggests :
Highlights :
· The lower court judge in Hazaribagh put the
accused on trial by pronouncing the order framing the charges
against them through a WhatsApp call
· A bench comprising Justices S A
Bobde and L N Rao , said :
“ We are here
on the way of trial being conducted through WhatsApp . This cannot be done .
What kind of a trial is this ? Is this a kind of joke ?
· Senior advocate Vivek Tankha said :
“ The trial
was directed to be conducted through video-conferencing …. Video-conferencing
connectivity was most of the times very low in Bhopal and Hazaribagh district
courts and the April 19 order was pronounced by the trial judge through
WhatsApp call “
Apparently , we in India , are stickler for “ following established procedures “ , no matter how much justice gets delayed !
We
like to tell our subordinates :
“
Don’t stick out your neck . It will get chopped off, unceremoniously “
We
believe in , “ The operation was successful ; it does not matter that the
patient died “
How
else can we explain the following ?
· There
are 2,76,74,499 cases pending in district and subordinate courts of country
· Sanctioned
strength of these courts is 22,444 [ in June 2018 ]
· As
against this, total working strength is 17,221 judges ( shortfall of 5223 )
Source
:
MY TAKE :
If
we want to reduce the average “case disposal time “ from 6 YEARS to 6 MONTHS ,
we must do better than the Chinese – as follows :
· Launch
online portal……..www.OnlineJustice.gov.in …..having
following features / pages / User Interfaces :
# Who can register a litigation
and how ( detailed form to be filled in )
# What kind of complaints can
be filed ( Eg; property / divorce / fraud / loans etc )
# Time frame of hearings (
based on backlog at that point )
# Search / Selection of “
empanelled lawyers “ ( with their fees tariff )
# Method of conducting “ Online
Trial “ ( Audio – Video Conference calls )
# Online payment of Court Fees
/ Lawyer’s fees
# Who can “ watch “ the online
trial and how ( Video broadcast ) and when
# Progress Chart as trial
proceeds / Upload – Download of documents
# Court Room allotted ( by
software ) to each litigation
Not being limited
by any “ Physical Constraints “ , it will be possible ( for the
software ), to
open as many “ Virtual / Online “ Court Rooms as required
Only limitation
will be the Number of available Judges at any given time
Let none have doubts about the ability of
our Start Ups to design / develop and launch such a portal within 6 months ,
whose “ Conceptual Frame Work “ could resemble ,
And as far as finding 10,000 Judges to conduct “ Online Trials “ from the
comfort of
their homes ( and without imposing any “ Infrastructure Burden “ on the State –
except providing them with a fast broadband connection ) , I suggest that we
rope in
retired judges on a “ Per Case Retainer “ basis ( paid into their Jan Dhan
accounts )
There must be a “ Bonus cum Penalty “ formula to govern the payments to the
Judges ,
depending upon the “ Actual Time “ taken to dispose off a given case as against
the “
Target
Time “ ( to be computed by Artificial Intelligent Software , based on
historical
data being continuously compiled for all the cases , once the portal gets
launched )
I urge Chief Justice Hon Deepak Misraji to treat this email as a PIL and “
direct “ the
NDA government to initiate action on this suggestion ( I cannot afford a lawyer
! )
Your " Activism " in this matter will go a long way to restore the faith of the ordinary citizens in the judiciary !
13
Sept 2018
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
13
Sept 2018
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
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