Nehru: Don’t delay disposal of cases
Maneesh Chhibber

"Justice should be cheap and speedy."
"Litigation is a disease."

THESE are two important statements made by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his lengthy speech on the afternoon of March 19, 1955. He was addressing members of the Punjab High Court at the inauguration of its new building in Chandigarh.

Speaking partly in English, a language, which, he remarked in wit, had great influence and force, and partly in Hindustani (a mix of Hindi and Urdu), Nehru said, "Justice in India should be simple, speedy and cheap. I have no doubt that the Punjab, which is more wide awake and enterprising than other states in India, will take a lead in this matter."

Nehru remarked that litigation was a disease and it could not be a good thing to allow any disease to spread and then go out in search of doctors, complaining at the same time that doctors were not available.

The health of a community, he said, should not be judged by the large number of patients who are treated in the hospitals but by the small number of patients that the hospitals may have to attend.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court building: Illuminated for the golden jubilee celebrations. — Photo by Manoj Mahajan

Similarly, Nehru said, the legal disease of a country or the state would be judged not by the large number of cases and the demand to increase the number of judges of the High Court. In fact, he added, they (state and legal fraternity) should see that there is as little of litigation as is possible.

Referring to the adage that justice delayed is justice denied, Nehru stressed that disposal of cases must not be delayed. "To first allow a disease to spread and look for doctors would be the same thing as allowing litigation and then looking for judges. Preventive measures are always better than curative."

Profusely praising the "gorgeous building", the Prime Minister said it had the look of an "open building". He remarked that the new building was the kind of building where justice should be administered because there was hardly any need of having something of a closed nature. Administration of justice was no secret and, therefore, a high court building should be "open" also. He was glad that the new High Court building had been constructed in that manner.

BenchMarkS Some prominent judges of the High Court
Justice H.R. Khanna became Additional Judge of the Punjab High Court in 1962 and was later appointed judge of the Supreme Court. He resigned in 1977.	Justice A.N. Grover was appointed Additional Judge of the Punjab High Court in 1957 and then became judge of the Supreme Court	Justice A.S. Anand practised law at the Punjab and Haryana High Court and subsequently became CJI.	Justice M.M. Punchhi practised law at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was elevated as judge and then became CJI.
Justice A.D. Kaushal was a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later became a judge of the Supreme Court.	Justice A.B. Saharya was CJ of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He later became the Chairman of the Central Review Committee on POTA.	Justice Ashok Bhan practised law at the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later became a HC judge. He is at present a judge of the Supreme Court.	Justice D.K. Jain, the present Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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