Shweta Tambade
A plea was filed in the Supreme Court, which sought an instruction to the Centre, states, and Union Territories to double the number of judges in High courts and subordinate courts and carry out a judicial charter on disposal of cases in three years.
Out of 1,079 total authorized posts in the 25 High courts of the country, only 414 of the posts are vacant as per the latest reports.
The plea filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has made – all the high courts, the states, the Union Territories (UTs), the Union Home Ministry, and the Law and Justice Ministry – as parties to the case.
The plea filed through Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey said that nearly five crore cases are pending in the country from trial courts to the Supreme Court, and their dawdled disposal infringes the citizens’ fundamental right to speedy justice.
“Deliberate and inordinate delay of a trial offends Article 21. Right to speedy justice is a fundamental right of every citizen, which cannot be trampled upon. It is an integral part of right to life and liberty and a procedure is void if it does not provide fair trial and speedy justice,” the plea said.
”A Judicial Charter to guarantee time-bound trial and justice is an important safe guard to prevent undue oppressive incarceration prior to trial to minimise anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation, and to limit the possibilities that long delays will impair the ability of an accused to defend him,” it said.
The PIL said that the Judicial Charter of October 25, 2009, had granted disposal of all cases, along with those pending before a Tehsildar and an SDM, within three years and had sought its implementation.
”It is in the interest of society that the trial concludes within three years and if the accused is guilty, he is duly punished. If the accused is not guilty, an early conclusion of trial is necessary to relieve him of the ordeal of trial and restore his dignity as soon as possible,” it said.
The plea has urged the apex court to instruct the Centre and states to apply suggestions of a Law Commission Report and take other appropriate steps to break even and dispose of the backlog in a three-year time-frame.
It has expressed a strong desire to the court to pass directions to apply the Judicial Charter in all the courts to resolve cases within three years and dispose of the backlog by 2023.
The cause of action accrued on October 25, 2009, and continues when the Centre promised to reduce the pendency of cases from 15 years to three years. But the Centre did not make efforts to imply the suggestions laid down by the Law Commission of India in its reports, it said.
Throwing light on the delay caused in deciding cases, the PIL referred to a property dispute pending before the consolidation officer of Jaunpur for 35 years and cited that the victim got more than 400 dates but has not got the justice.
