New Delhi, August 16
Promising the judicial system that his government would “match each step of the judiciary with two of our own”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the Supreme Court to play a “vital role” in the “war on arrears” of cases and wiping “every tear of every waiting litigant”.

Addressing the day-long Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices, he, however, made it clear that increasing the court strength to improve the low judge-population ratio would depend on high courts filling all 3,000 existing vacancies in the lower judiciary.

“I can assure this august gathering with all emphasis at my command that my government will not be found wanting at any level in this joint effort (against case arrears). We promise to match each step of the judiciary with two of our own. We will not hesitate to walk the extra mile at every opportunity,” he added.

Describing the executive and the judiciary as “two vital wheels of the chariot of good governance”, he said India suffered from “the scourge of the world’s largest backlog of cases and timelines that generated surprise globally and concern at home. The expeditious elimination of this scourge was the biggest challenge for such conferences and should constitute the highest priority for all of us”. Over 30 million cases are pending in various courts across the country.

Calling for an “arrear-free judicial institution”, he expressed concern over undertrials languishing in jails for unduly long periods. “Many such undertrials have been in jails for periods longer than they would have served had they been sentenced. This is indeed very disturbing,” he said.

He said in the war on arrears, the entire legal system and each rung of it would have to function as a seamless web and an indivisible whole. “Naturally, the apex court has to discharge a vital role. It has be a catalyst, an organiser, a mentor, an umpire, a participant, and above all, a role model, all at the same time,” he said.

The road map for judicial reforms, suggested by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil in her address to the joint session of Parliament in June this year, was under preparation and national-level consultation with jurists and stakeholders in that regard would be held very shortly, he said.

The Prime Minister urged the state governments to implement the Gram Nyayalayas Act, aimed at setting up more than 5,000 courts at the panchayat level. Also, court-annexed mediation centres being created at different levels “remain a drop in the ocean”, while the plea bargaining provision was not being fully utilised. Fast-track courts should conduct their “business differently”.

Further, there was need for comprehensive computerisation and ultimate linking of all courts in the country into one “mega judicial information grid” for screening all pending cases and disposal of “many old cases as moot or infructuous”.

Describing the litigants “the consumer of justice,” the PM said unless “we meet his or her legitimate demands and expectations in letter and spirit, we cannot rest in peace”. The government had accepted a proposal for setting up 71 additional CBI courts in different states, he added.

In his address, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan said there had been a “chronic shortage” of judicial officers, especially at the subordinate level. There were also some “structural obstacles that discouraged talented law graduates” from joining judicial services. However, he did not elaborate on the issue. Citing a Law Commission report, he said the judicial system had to be expanded at least five-fold in order to match the judge- population ratio of developed countries.