New Delhi: With over 2.38 crore cases pending
in various courts across the country, the government plans to
launch a six-month-long campaign in association with the
judiciary this year to bring down the pendency to three years
from the current 15 years.
According to latest figures available with the government,
a total of over 2.38 crore cases are pending in High Courts
and subordinate courts till 2009.
In country's biggest High Court -- the Allahabad High
Court -- nearly 9.68 lakh cases are pending. In the
subordinate courts of UP, over 34 lakh cases are pending
trial, bringing the total to over 44 lakh cases.
In a letter to the Chief Justice of India and Chief
Justices of the 21 High Courts, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily
has said though the target to bring down pendency from 15
years to three years may not be possible to achieve by 2012
as planned in 2009, the maximum reduction of cases pending
over 5-15 years in a six-month campaign is possible "except
for some difficult cases".
In a separate note attached to the letter outlining the
plan, the Minister has said the campaign could be launched
from July to December, giving targets for disposal of cases to
morning and evening shift courts, subordinate courts and even
the High Courts.
Summary procedure as allowed by law, plea bargaining,
compounding of cases can also be used to reduce case load, he
has suggested.
The government plans to review the progress made in this
regard in December this year and could launch phase-II of the
campaign from January to June 2012.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 00:05