Shortage Of Judges Delaying Justice
Shortage of judges amid mounting cases is shrinking people's faith in the judiciary. According to the Law Ministry, as of December 2018, 3 crore 42 lakh cases were pending in courts across the country, which increased to 3 crore 65 lakh in February 2020
In the Supreme Court, 56,994 cases were pending till December 2018, which spiked to 60,603 in February 2020.
However, cases in High Courts have reduced instead of increasing. In December 2018, 49.79 lakh cases were pending in High Courts of the country; these reduced to 46.15 lakh in February 2020. District courts are in the worst condition, where 2 crore 92 lakh cases were pending in December 2018, which increased to 3 crore 19 lakh cases in February 2020. The clear meaning of the rising burden of cases on courts is that speedy justice is out of reach of the common person. Judges across the country have expressed their concern over the rising number of cases. Demands have been made several times for the Central government to increase the number of courts and judges but there has been no improvement in the judicial dispensation even during the six-year tenure of the Modi government. According to new data, even though 24,018 positions of judges have been approved in lower courts, only 19,160 judges have been posted there, which means that 21% approved posts for judges are lying vacant. In the year 2013, 23% posts of judges were unoccupied and in the last seven years, there has been only 2% increase in posts occupied by judges. These statistics show that after doing the rounds of courts, getting justice through the country’s judiciary is no less a task than finding the elusive ‘sanjeevani booti’ (a magical herb).
However, cases in High Courts have reduced instead of increasing. In December 2018, 49.79 lakh cases were pending in High Courts of the country; these reduced to 46.15 lakh in February 2020. District courts are in the worst condition, where 2 crore 92 lakh cases were pending in December 2018, which increased to 3 crore 19 lakh cases in February 2020. The clear meaning of the rising burden of cases on courts is that speedy justice is out of reach of the common person. Judges across the country have expressed their concern over the rising number of cases. Demands have been made several times for the Central government to increase the number of courts and judges but there has been no improvement in the judicial dispensation even during the six-year tenure of the Modi government. According to new data, even though 24,018 positions of judges have been approved in lower courts, only 19,160 judges have been posted there, which means that 21% approved posts for judges are lying vacant. In the year 2013, 23% posts of judges were unoccupied and in the last seven years, there has been only 2% increase in posts occupied by judges. These statistics show that after doing the rounds of courts, getting justice through the country’s judiciary is no less a task than finding the elusive ‘sanjeevani booti’ (a magical herb).
Shortage of #judges amid mounting cases is shrinking people's faith in the #judiciary. According to the #LawMinistry, as of December 2018, 3 crore 42 lakh cases were pending in courts across the country, which increased to 3 crore 65 lakh in February 2020#IndianJudiciary #law pic.twitter.com/Pi64xgQ6Y0
— GoNewsIndia (@GoNews_India) March 17, 2020
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