Need for Speedy disposal of cases

The great concern shown by public-men, politicians, jurists and judges and all and sundry about the speedy disposal of pending cases in the Indian Courts and dispensation of cheap justice to the indigent and the poor has proved to be a non-starter. The arrears continue to be mounting and the cost of litigation keeps on soaring like the cost of any other essential commodity. The question is whether anybody is really serious and concerned about these problems or whether, like many other things, this is also not a populist slogan as is used for catching votes. One can understand our politicians adopting this as a slogan, but it is difficult to understand our learned jurists and some celebrated judges singing the same tune without going to the root of the problem. Where is the need for them to adopt a populist stance?

There are several parties connected to a litigation — the litigant himself, the lawyer who conducts the case, the judge who hears and decides it, the prosecuting agency in a criminal trial and last but not the least, ' the State's bureaucracy who fether most of the writ petitions in the High Courts.

Who amongst them is serious for the speedy disposal of the pending cases and dispensation of cheap justice to the needy and the poor? The problem does not seem to have been approached in its correct perspective yet.

The Litigants — For him all the tears are being shed. But do all of them want that their cases should be disposed of quickly? The plaintiff who seeks relief may like to have quick justice, but what about the defendant? Even the plaintiff after obtaining an order of stay or injunction gets a vitally interested in delaying the process. A tenant in an eviction suit never wants the litigation to come to an end. Once evicted, he cannot get a similar accommodation for the same price — thanks to the hike in the house rent. Similar is the position in a criminal trial. An accused seldom wants his trial to commence and prolongs the case till the time the evidence against him is wiped out. Thanks to our lethargic and slow acting judicial procedures, fifty per cent of our litigants, if not more, do succeed in slowing down the process.

The Lawyers— In an ecclesiastical Court, the clergy found it to be a religious obligation to help the needy and assist the Court in the dispensation of justice. It gave birth to a class of persons who came to be needed more by the litigants and had little time to spare for the church. The lawyer was born. Towards the close of the seventeenth century vigorous new policy of Imperial discipline paved the way to the adoption of common law practice of the King's Court from Biblicism and local customary English law. The growth of propertied class created a market for the service of lawyers. And the Lawyer has come to stay. He is an integral part of the judicial process. It is said that he is the learned gentleman who rescues your estate from your enemies and keeps it to himself. Joseph H. Choate, a great American lawyer in a dinner speech had his own joking truth. He said: "Every man in the community owes a duty to our profession; somewhere between the cradle and the grave, he must acknowledge the liability and pay the debt......It was one of the brightest members of the profession, you remember, who had taken his passage to Europe.........and failed to go. He said one of his rich clients died and he was afraid if he had gone across the Atlantic, the heirs would have gotten all the property."

The allegation often is that lawyer makes a law-suit complicated and confusing. Fred Rodell, an eminent Professor of Yale University, once said — "While law is supposed to be a device to serve society, a civilized way of helping the wheels go round without too much friction, it is pretty hard to find a group less concerned with serving society and more concerned with serving themselves than the lawyers".

I should not be misunderstood for mentioning all these. Most of our lawyers are fairly honest, more or less upright and, in the main, quite decent men; but that is not relevant. Karl Marx once said that money annuls all human relationship. After all this profession has become an industry. The interest of the lawyer lies in a protracted litigation. He is not a Kalidas who would cut the branch of the tree on which he is sitting by making a litigation shortlived.

The Judges— Poor fellow!He is the most neglected and uncared for. The society wants him to do justice but no one is prepared to give any justice to him. What then are you going to expect from an underclothed arid half-fed Judge. Sweet and juicy words are not going to fill his belly and give him clothes to wear. Imagine, in the year 1861-62, when the High Court of Judicature was established at Calcutta, the Judge's salary was fixed at Rs. 4,000/- a month. It's like a dream. Needless to say that at its present value, it would run into several lacs of rupees a month. But those were the days when our country was in chains. When the chains were broken, the salary of the Judge was reduced to Rs. 3,500/- a month without any escalation clause. If anything in this country has remained firm and static after Independence, it is the Judge's salary! The size of rupee has been reduced by at least six to seven times since 1952, even according to the official figures. Now, tell me, how dp you expect him to give his mind and soul to this problem. Excuse me, I do not like hypocracy. The Judge has also his problems. He is disorganised and has no Trade Union. He, therefore, still works hard. But how long? You can't feed him by slogans alone. And little said the better about the Subordinate Judiciary. They are hired for a paltry amount between Rupees five to six hundred and odd a month in the beginning without any inbuilt facilities. When once they tried to come on the road to ventilate their grievances, they were advised to become Chaprasis in the Banks, who get a fair deal because they can stop work, by no less a person than the then Union Law Minister. What a crude joke ! And still you want them to work day in and day out for the speedy disposal of the cases?

The Prosecutor — The agency which is responsible for the maintenance of law and order is also responsible for the investigation of the crime. The law and order situation in the country is such that the authority gets little time for investigation of a case. Many a time, to control the crime, the investigation is slowed down to keep the alleged criminal behind the bars. It is common knowledge that in many cases the investigating officer is not available for examination in Court for months and years. And then who does not know what prompts our police in not booking the criminals speedily. Once the cases reach the hands of the lawyer-prosecutor, the matter gets worse. He works on a daily fee and can speed up the trial only at his own peril. It is not that he has no other problems, but his own interest gets the upper hand like that of anybody else. It is economics which determines everything in our social set up.

The State and its bureaucracy — The society has become very complex. We have a very rich crop of Ordinances in free India. The Rule of Law has been replaced by the Law of Rules. Can you say sitting over here if you are not violating any law? Thoughtless and mala fide orders give rise to many cases, especially the writ petitions in the High Courts. Many of them may be disposed of at the preliminary hearings but, in spite of best efforts, proper instructions are not sent to the counsel of the State. They say that the files in the Secretariat and the Government offices have no legs. They have to be moved and it takes time for the file to walk from one table to the other. Those who can make it walk, succeed, but in the process, the matter gets delayed.

The State has become the single biggest litigant. It is the common knowledge that the criteria for the apppointment of counsel is anything but merit. The heartless bureaucracy has neither ears nor eyes. If at all, he cannot see beyond his own nose. He is trained in a different way and most of his time is consumed in protecting himself and pleasing the politician. Where is the time and will for him to think about the problems? And why he should, at all?

I have tried only to pose a few basic problems which seem to have been overlooked. Many more can be added and multiplied. It is heartening to note that in recent years this problem has attracted the attention of people in authority and outside. But the remedial measures suggested so far are most inadequate to cope with the problem. It is generally suggested to curtail some of the procedural laws and to increase the number of Judges and Courts. No one will dispute that lethargic and slow acting procedural laws must be replaced by quick acting procedures. But there is also an inherent danger in it. In doing so, care has to be taken that justice itself is not disposed of instead of the cases. Considering the increase in the number of cases, the increase in the number of Judges and Courts is only a half-way solution. But what about the quality in the matter of appointment of Judges which seems to have received a set back in recent years. Quality is more important than the quantity. Moreover, even the pending vacancies are not filled for years. If delays cannot be curtailed in such matters, only God knows if we shall be able to cut off delays in the disposal of cases.

This is a socio-economic problem. Lacs of our educated youngmen are every year rolled out of colleges. Very few of them get employment. The others find their self-employment in road-rail robberies, bank dacoities and other sophisticated crimes. They have got to do something to live on. This gives rise to the large number of criminal cases. Then, there are social offenders. These are every day on the increase. Can the procedural cut and the increase in the number of Judges cope with these problems. You can kill the mosquitoes in a room by spraying flit but many more will come inside from the breeding ground. What is more important is plugging the hole to see that the cases do not breed. That cannot be done by slogans. There must be a vigorous attempt in the right direction and there must be a will to do it. The cause has to be located and removed by socio and economic operation. If we cannot do it, it is better that we stop talking about it.