(a) Whether the Government proposes to set up special courts for
solving corruption cases;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to fix time frame for deciding these
cases in time;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) if not, the reasons therefor;
(f) whether there is any shortage of courts and judges in the country; and
(g) if so, the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE (Dr. M. VEERAPPA MOILY)
(a) to (e): The Government has decided to set up 71 new Special Courts for
trial of CBI cases out of which orders for setting up of 54 special courts have
been issued and 10 have become functional on the basis of the new yardstick of
50 cases as prescribed by the Chief Justice of India for creation of Special
Courts. Both recurring and Non-recurring expenditure in setting up and functioning
of these Special Courts would be reimbursed by the Government of India to the
respective state Government. Time frame for court cases cannot be fixed as
disposal of a case depends on various reports to be provided by investigating
agencies, examining number of witnesses and required evidence in the case.
(f) and (g): Yes, there is shortage of courts and judges in the country. To
augment the situation and to improve justice delivery system and reduce pendencies
in the Courts, the Government is taking various initiatives. These are as under:-
(1) The Government has ‘in principle’ approved setting up of National Mission
for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms. The National Mission would help
implementing the two major goals of
(i) increasing access by reducing delays and arrears in the system
(ii) enhancing accountability at all levels through structural changes and
setting performance standards and facilitating enhancement of capacities for
achieving such performance standards.
(2) With the objective of improving justice delivery, Thirteenth Finance
Commission has recommended a grant of Rs. 5000 crore to be utilized over a
period of five years up to 2010-2015. This grant is aimed at providing support
to improve judicial outcomes, and is allocated for the initiatives such as
(i) Increasing the number of court working hours using the existing infrastructure
by holding morning / evening / shift courts; (ii) Enhancing support to Lok Adalats
to reduce the pressure on regular courts; (iii) Providing additional funds to State
Legal Services Authorities to enable them to enhance legal aid to the marginalized
and empower them to access justice; (iv) Promoting the Alternate Dispute Resolution
(ADR) mechanism to resolve part of the disputes outside the court system;
(v) Enhancing capacity of judicial officers and public prosecutors through
training programmes; (vi) Supporting creation or strengthening of a judicial
academy in each State to facilitate such training; (vii) Creation of the post
of Court Managers in every judicial district to assist the judiciary in their
administrative functions and (viii) Maintenance of heritage court buildings.
(3) The Government is implementing a central sector scheme for computerization
of the District and Subordinate Courts (e-Courts project) in the country and for
upgradation of the ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and the High Courts,
at a cost of Rs. 935 crore for the first phase which will connect 14,229 courts
in the country including video conferencing facilities. In the subsequent phase,
digitization, library management, e-filing and establishment of data warehouse
are expected to take place. The Project output would be beneficial to both
improving court process and rendering citizen centric services. Automation of
case flow would cover case scrutiny, registration, court proceedings and electronic
monitoring of all court-wise case pendency and performance assessment of Judges. In
terms of citizen centric services, online availability of case status, copies of
orders and judgments, cause list and eventually e-filing of cases will be available.
This project will also achieve one of the important goals of the Vision
Document 2009, namely, the creation of National Arrears Grid, with the last mile
connectivity up to Taluqa courts. The complete coverage of the 14,249 courts in
terms of hardware and software will be achieved by March 2014 and the largest
number of courts (12,000) will be covered by March 2012. Re-engineering of the
process in the courts is the ultimate aim for speeding justice delivery and this
activity is also to start this year.
(4) Enactment of the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 which provides for establishment
of Gram Nyayalayas to improve access to justice to common man. Under the scheme,
the Government provides non recurring grant for creation of infrastructure and also
recurring grant on annual basis. Rs. 20.92 crore have been provided to the States
so far under this scheme.
(5) A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities
for the judiciary is being implemented since 1993-94 under which central assistance
for construction of court buildings and residential quarters for judicial officers
is released to augment the resources of the State Governments. The central grant
is released with a rider that the State Governments would contribute at least the
matching share. An amount of Rs. 412 crore has been released to the State Governments
during the last three years. Central Grant for construction of High Court buildings
is considered by the Planning Commission on 30:70 basis under Additional Central
Assistance scheme.
(6) For legal empowerment of the marginalized people in India an externally
aided project ‘Access to Justice for Marginalised People in India†is being
implemented, in the selected 7 States, with support of UNDP.