STATE WHERE
SUBORDINATE COURTS HAVE LARGEST PENDENCIES
Out of a total of 2.04
crore cases pending in district and subordinate courts all over
the country, 1,89,32,845 cases are pending in seven States. These
are Uttar Pradesh with 3480642 cases followed by Gujarat with
3203867 cases, Maharashtra with 2730069 cases, Madhya Pradesh
with 1342275 cases, West Bengal with 1305855 cases, Bihar with
1277396 cases and Karnataka with 1040606 cases. The remaining
cases are pending in the rest of the States.
With the setting up of
all the 1734 Fast Track Courts during the current financial year
2002-2003 all over the country, and 2216 vacancies in district
and subordinate courts to be filled during the course of the year
as per the direction of the Supreme Court of India, the process
of expediting the disposal of the pending cases will accelerate.
Following the recent
amendment in the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, effected
early this year, a large number of cases relating to public utility
services like public transport, telephone, water, electricity,
insurance, hospital/medicare, civic amenities and so on are to
be transferred from the existing courts to the Permanent Lok Adalats
for the final disposal. This will also dent the pendency of cases
in the subordinate courts, which are likely to be relieved largely
of the burden of public utility cases.
Added
to this, the amendments of 1999 and 2002 effected in the Civil
Procedure Code from July 1, 2002 compressing the entire procedure
of civil suits from institution to disposal in about an year’s
time, will further reduce pendency of cases in subordinate courts.
In addition, the
proposed amendment in the criminal laws for expediting administration
of criminal justice system, based on Justice V.S. Mallimath Committee
Report on Streamlining Criminal Justice System, which is likely
to be received shortly, will provide further fillip to expediting
criminal cases in our courts.
