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PM’s speech at the Joint
Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called upon the judiciary
and executive to work together to make the Indian judicial system an arrear
free. He was speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief
Justices in New Delhi today. Dr. Singh said that the elimination of vast
number of pending cases in the Indian Courts is the biggest challenge before
the judiciary. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech on the
occasion:
“I am very happy to be with you at this very important joint conference of
Chief Ministers and Chief Justices. This is an extremely valuable
institutional forum for fruitful interaction between two vital wheels of the
chariot of good governance - the Executive and the Judiciary. The enormous
and often non quantifiable benefits of such meaningful dialogue in such
exchanges cannot be overemphasized. Institutional interactions like this
create a deeper understanding of each others’ perspective, enhance trust and
impart the necessary direction and momentum for processes of good governance.
The Indian legal and judicial system, in one sense, reflects a certain
contradiction. India, the world’s largest democracy and home to the second
largest pool of lawyers, has legislatures elected by the world’s largest
electorate. It has the world’s longest and most comprehensive Constitution, a
fiercely free press and institutional bulwarks of freedom like the Election
Commission of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Its
judiciary is dynamic and completely independent and we take pride in this.
Despite its unelected character, the people’s faith has been reposed in the
judicial organ in a very large measure. The legal system is manned by legal
luminaries second to none in the world. Amazingly innovative legal doctrines
and precepts have been the gift of the Indian legal system to the world. The
“basic structure doctrine” and “public interest litigation” are but two
examples. Judicial review has breached unprecedented frontiers. Yet, amidst
such strengths, brilliance and dynamism, India has to suffer the scourge of
the world’s largest backlog of cases and timelines which generate surprise
globally and concern at home. The expeditious elimination of this scourge is
the biggest challenge for such conferences and should constitute the highest
priority for all of us.
The mammoth number of pending cases cannot be allowed to disillusion or
dishearten us. It has to spur us to even higher peaks of achievement and
bring out the best from every stakeholder, acting in coordination to
progressively overcome this great challenge. In this war, a holistic and
multipronged approach is vital. There is no space for piecemeal, patchy or
sectoral responses. However, grand mega plans must be tempered and
accompanied by common sense, nitty gritty solutions. Adapting Thomas Hardy’s admonition
- if we take care of the small things, the big things will take care of
themselves - we have to combine and harmonise both the big and the small. In
this war on arrears, the entire legal system and each rung of it has to
function as a seamless web and an indivisible whole. Naturally, the apex
court has to discharge a vital role. It has to be a catalyst, an organiser, a
mentor, an umpire, a participant , and, above all, a
role model, all at the same time. I can assure this august gathering with all
the emphasis at my command that my Government will not be found wanting at
any level in this joint effort. 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.
The procedural, substantive, or attitudinal reforms which must be
continuously and collectively applied to achieve results are diverse in
nature. Meritorious individuals should be appointed timely to judicial posts,
which have been enhanced at the High Court level by 150 in the last few
years. The existing vacancies in High Courts are quite high in number and
need to be filled up urgently. I would urge the Chief Justices of High Courts
to initiate proposals for quickly filling up these posts. Vacancies at the
subordinate level roughly comprise, I have been told, 20% to 25% of
subordinate judicial posts. I am told that almost 3000 posts of judges in the
country are vacant because of delay in recruitment. All these vacant posts at
the subordinate levels need to be filled up without any further loss of time.
The State Judicial Academies need to be strengthened for building capacities
of judicial officers. Comprehensive computerisation and ultimate linking of
all courts in the country into one mega judicial information grid needs to be
tailored and adapted to enable screening of all pending cases. Such screening
would facilitate disposal of many old cases as moot or infructuous. Despite
the recent increases in judicial strength, there is scope for significant
future increase in court strength to improve India’s low judge per million
population ratio. This is subject, of course, to expeditious filling of
existing vacancies. The mechanisms and processes for providing legal aid to
the marginalised sections of the society need to be improved.
Consensual Dispute Resolution – whether by way of arbitration or diverse
forms of mediation – is an effective bypass to litigation, with significant
preventive and curative virtues. The Civil Procedure Code now offers an
empowering menu of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) choices. I am happy
to note that court annexed mediation centres are now being created at
different levels. But they remain still a drop in the ocean. The plea
bargaining provided for by the law since 2005 has not been fully utilised
till now. There is a need to give it wider publicity to reduce the pendency
of cases and the number of under-trials in the country.
The Honorable President of India in her address to the Joint Session of
Parliament in June 2009 has directed that a roadmap for judicial reforms be
outlined in the next six months and implemented in a time-bound manner. I am
happy that the Ministry of Law and Justice is working on such a road map.
Shri Moily has also informed me that consultations on the reform initiatives
have started with the various stakeholders. A National Consultation with
jurists and stakeholders will be held in New Delhi very shortly. This will
throw up the broad contours and set the stage for reform. But a lot of work
will still have to be done for crafting a detailed blueprint and ensuring its
implementation thereafter.
At the last Conference, I had mentioned that we had introduced the Gram
Nyayalays Bill in Parliament. Though the legislation has since been enacted
in January this year, it is yet to be enforced. I would urge that the state
governments initiate immediate action to operationalize the Gram Nyayalayas
Act in their States. Once the Act is fully implemented, we will have more
than 5000 courts at the intermediate panchayat level. These will bring
justice to the doorstep of the common people, who currently feel that getting
justice in India is not only time-consuming and costly but sometimes also an
intractable proposition. The Central Government has committed assistance to
States for setting up the Gram Nyayalays. While there could be differing
views on the adequacy of the assistance being provided, this should not hold
us from speedily bringing the Act into force.
I am very happy to inform you that the Government of India, on the advice of
the Chief Justice of India, has agreed to establish 71 additional CBI Courts
in different states. Fast Track Courts should conduct their business
differently and faster than normal courts; only then we shall be able to
tackle the pendency in cases.
A matter of concern, indeed, worry, is the large number of under-trials in
our jails. Many such under-trials have been in jail for periods longer than
they would have served had they been sentenced. This is indeed very
disturbing. There have been pronouncements of the High Courts and the Supreme
Court on this issue but still the number of under-trials in jails continues
to be very large. I sincerely hope this Conference will devote some time to
this issue.
Let me conclude by suggesting to this august gathering that we take a vow to
ensure that the enormous global respect for the Indian judiciary for its
path-breaking doctrines and consistent independence be soon matched by
similar accolades for an arrear free judicial institution. Like Gandhiji’s common
man, the focus of the judicial system should to be to wipe every tear of
every waiting litigant. I hope your deliberations will be centred on the
single most important stakeholder in this system- the consumer of justice.
Unless we meet his or her legitimate demands and expectations in letter and
spirit, we cannot rest in peace.
I congratulate the Chief Justice of India and my colleague, Shri Moily ji for
having taken the initiative to organize this very important conference. Great
importance is attached to your deliberations. Let me end by wishing you a
very successful conference and all the very best in your endeavours.”
PIB
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Indian Judiciary is held in very
high esteem: Law Minister
The Union Law and Justice Minister, Shri Veerappa Moily has said that the
Indian Judiciary is held in very high esteem not only in this country and the
other developing countries but also in the developed countries of the world.
He said this while addressing the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and
Chief Justices of High Courts in New Delhi today.
Shri Moily said that in her address to the Parliament the Hon’ble President
had highlighted the urgency to usher in judicial reforms. He said that
Preliminary discussions have been held with key figures in justice
implementation and we have called for a National Consultation on the issue of
Judicial Reforms which will be held shortly. He added that that
administrative reforms are a concomitant part of judicial reforms, and that
transparency, good governance, fairness in decision making and impartiality
of administration are all fundamental to the rule of law. Following is the
text of the Union Law and Justice Minister on the occasion: -
“Another important aspect is that of making justice more easily accessible to
the people particularly in the rural areas. The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 which
enables setting up of Nyayalayas in the Intermediate Panchayat levels is a
revolutionary way of bringing justice closer to people. The concept of Gram
Nyayalayas is quite unique in contrast to the Gram Panchayat contemplated in
the Panchayat Act. This will have a 1st Class Magistrate and deals with
offences and relief under IPC, Central Acts, and relief under the State Acts
(to be notified by the State Governments) as contemplated in the 1st Schedule
of Part I, II and III of the Act and also civil disputes, property disputes
and other disputes. These Courts contemplate summary proceedings and a time
bound disposal within six months of the institution of the case. Once in
operation, justice will be brought to the doorsteps of the common man.
I, therefore, urge that we put our act together to operationalise the Gram
Nayalayas in the quickest time and that we start our first phase within six
months.
I would like to inform that information and communication technology has been
introduced in the Supreme Court, in 21 High Courts as well as around 15,000
District and Subordinate Courts in the Country. The Central Government has
already sanctioned Rs. 442 crores in the first phase of its judicial reforms
consequent to which computerization to the extent of laptops, laser printers,
internet connectivity in the Court complexes and home offices of 13,250
judicial offices in the country has already been achieved. Training of Judges
and Court staff in the use of information and communication technology is
afoot. We are also thinking of developing 3000 sites in all the court
complexes where hardware would be procured and application software would be
developed and standardized.
I would request your cooperation in successfully implementing the project of
computerization of the courts which is ultimately to be owned by the
judiciary for better delivery of services and transparency to the
stakeholders. My Ministry also implements a scheme for development of
infrastructure for the judiciary where assistance is provided for
construction of court buildings and residential accommodation for the
judicial officers.
The Fast Track Courts were established on the recommendation of the Eleventh
Finance Commission have made a significant impact in disposal of long pending
sessions cases and cases of under-trial prisoners. The scheme which was
initially up to 31.3.2005 has been continued upto 31.3.2010 and central
assistance continues to be provided for this extended period. The matter of
continuation of the Fast Track Courts beyond 31.3.2010 needs to be considered
and may be deliberated here. In order to improve the credibility of the
system there is a need to make the optimum use of the available
infrastructure and resources including human resources. Capacity building of
our judicial officers will help the judiciary in their performance and will
also bring in a sense of higher commitment.
As per Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of judges, Chief Justices
of High Courts are expected to initiate proposals 6 months in advance for
filling up vacancies. This must be done so that the vacancies are filled up
in time. Care should be taken to recommend candidates which have proven
competence and un-impeachable integrity. The huge pendency in the courts is a
matter of great concern to all of us. More than 2.5 crore cases are
reportedly pending in the lower courts of the country and if we add numbers
pending in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, the number may as well
exceed 3.5 crore. Apart from the pendency and delays, what has been worrying
most of us, is the number of under-trials in jails. Some of these
under-trials have been in jails for a much longer period than they would have
served if the sentence had been pronounced. At this Conference, we should
devote some time to these issues also and come up with some workable
solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner.
We intend to evolve a national litigation policy by which the Government is
able to fight cases with discretion and care. The Government is in agreement
with Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India that an attitude of taking firm,
independent and impartial decisions if adopted by the Government would itself
lead to a substantial reduction of arrears and would definitely control the
inflow of litigation into the Courts of Justice. The major
litigants/departments are advised to work out an integral mechanism to reduce
litigation and resolve within the Government. This needs to be done at the
State level also. There are also litigations between PSUs of the State
Governments and PSUs of Union of India and also between State and Union of
India and also vice versa too. This can also be dealt by a mechanism as it is
done in case of PSUs of Union of India.
I welcome the concept of ‘… National Minimum Court Performance Standards…’
which are being visualized by the Judiciary. We in the Government must also
have Judicial Infrastructure Supplement Standards so that the performance
standards as visualized by the judiciary are effectively achieved. It may be
noted that in a fairly ambitious programme the judiciary today visualizes
that its disposal level must be hiked upto 95-100% of total case load in 5
years. Keeping this fact in view, our senior Law Officers, the Attorney
General and the Solicitor General, are looking at a blueprint by which this
target is achieved within 3 years. I may add that in order to achieve such
progressively high targets, it would be necessary for the Central Government
and the State Governments to address issues of allocation of expenditure,
swift budgetary estimates, single window clearances and rationalization of
methods of accounts and audit.
We are also of the opinion that alternative dispute resolution methods must
be adopted as a means of exploring conciliation, mediation as well as arbitration
in a fair and transparent as well as effective manner. I am also happy to
note that pursuant to the legislative intent behind Section 89-A of the Code
of Civil Procedure, 1908, every High Court has a Conciliation and Mediation
Centre. However, we are conscious that mediation and conciliation are not
ordinary techniques of dispute resolution but require new skills and forms of
knowledge in order to achieve synergy between the conflicting parties.
At present, we are also reviewing the various Law Commission Reports and
tabulating their final recommendations. These recommendations will be
implemented by the Government by resorting to introduction of necessary
amendment acts before the Parliament.
With the rapid increase in commerce and trade, following privatization,
liberalization and globalization, commercial disputes involving high stakes
are likely to increase. Unless there is a new and effective mechanism for
resolving them speedily and efficiently, progress will be retarded. Foreign
investors in India must be assured that the Indian Courts are as fast as the
courts in the most developed countries of the world and that there are no
longer any long delays in the judicial process.
The Law Commission of India in its 188th Report on “Proposals for
Constitution of Hi-Tech Fast-Track Commercial Division in High Courts” has
recommended for constitution of Commercial Divisions in each High Courts so
that they may handle ‘commercial cases’ of high threshold value on fast track
basis. We should see how to bring this in force early. Law Commission 79th
report drew attention to the unhealthy practice of the long delay in
pronouncements of judgments and emphasised the need for reducing the lag
between conclusion of arguments and pronouncement of judgments should not
exceed one month except in some special matters. This recommendation must be
taken seriously by all the members of the judicial fraternity.
Section 35 of the Civil Procedure Code deals with the award of costs and
section 35A deals with the award of compensatory costs in respect of false or
vexatious claims or defences. The Courts should make use of these sections
more vigorously to prevent the abuse of legal process by vested interests. We
are also conscious that in today’s world where the entire globe is a village,
mobility of weapons and money are also problems which have to be faced by our
laws and we must, therefore, enact provisions for these crimes which have
developed on account of changes in the social fabric as well as the monetary
systems in the world.
Judicial Impact Assessment requires both the State Government and the Central
Government to make proper assessment of the requirement of impact of new laws
of litigants/courts and to fully build the capacity in the Court while new
legislations are made. A mechanism needs to be put in place both at the
National and State level to make an appraisal while passing any new
legislation. Justice Rao Committee had gone into this area and has made
valuable recommendations which the Government is committed to implement
without delay. This will address the problem of resource allocation to the
judiciary.
During the Eleventh Five Year Plan an allocation of Rs. 1470 crores has been
provided to the administration of the justice as against Rs. 700 crores
during the Tenth Five Year Plan. Even this allocation would have to be
stepped up substantially with our commitment to introduce more courts
specially the Gram Nyayalayas for which the Central Government is committed
to spend Rs. 1400 crores. The delivery of qualitative justice to our citizens
is a promise for which all of us – as the executive, the legislature and the
judiciary – are equally responsible. We must also realize that effective
justice delivery mechanisms are substantial alleviants for social tensions
and, in fact, go a long way in bringing about equanimity, restoring faith in
the rule of law, and above all, in the very essentials of a democratic way of
life.
We should be committed that the quality of justice must never be compromised
and the essential elements of fairness, equality and impartiality must always
be ensured. We are also aware that all citizens expect justice like a
consumer product. Both the executive and the judiciary have to maintain and
satisfy the tests of confidence, reliability and dependability.
We are glad to note that Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India has acknowledged
repeatedly that judicial responsibility; accountability and independence are
in every sense inseparable with the notions of fairness and rule of law. The
appropriate steps are under way to respond to these needs of the hour and we
will soon present a Vision Statement to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the
purpose of outlining the way forward for the Judiciary.”
PIB
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National consultation on judicial
reforms to be held shortly: Law Minister
A National Consultation on
Judicial Reforms will be held shortly and preliminary discussions have been
concluded with key figures in justice implementation, Law Minister Veerappa
Moily said.
Addressing the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High
Courts, the Law Minister said administrative reforms were a concomitant part
of judicial reforms and that transparency, good governance, fairness in
decision-making and impartiality of administration were all fundamental to
the rule of law.
Describing Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, which enables setting up of Nyayalayas
in the Intermediate Panchayat levels, as a ‘revolutionary way’ of bringing
justice closer to people, he said the concept of Gram Nyayalayas are unique
in contrast to the Gram Panchayat contemplated in the Panchayat Act.
These Courts contemplated summary proceedings and a time bound disposal
within six months of the institution of the case.
He said information and communication technology had been introduced in the
Supreme Court, in 21 High Courts as well as around 15,000 District and
Subordinate Courts in the country.
The Centre had already sanctioned Rs 442 crore in the first phase of its
judicial reforms consequent to which computerization to the extent of
laptops, laser printers, internet connectivity in the Court complexes and
home offices of 13,250 judicial offices in the country had already been
achieved.
Training of Judges and Court staff in the use of information and
communication technology was on, he said adding that the government was also
thinking of developing 3,000 sites in all the court complexes where hardware
would be procured and application software developed and standardized.
The Minister said continuation of the Fast Track Courts beyond March 2010
needs to be considered.
Mr Moily also said as per the Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of
judges, Chief Justices of High Courts were expected to initiate proposals six
months in advance for filling up vacancies.
He said care should be taken to recommend candidates who have proven to be
competent and showed un-impeachable integrity.
UNI
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Prime Minister calls for 'Arrear
Free' Judicial system
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called upon the judiciary and executive to work
together to make the Indian judicial system arrear-free and stressed the need
of urgently filling the large number of vacancies in the High Courts and
subordinate courts to accomplish this task.
Speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices here,
Dr Singh said the elimination of vast number of pending cases in the Indian
courts is the biggest challenge before the judiciary.
The Prime Minister wanted the Supreme Court to play a vital role in ‘this war
of arrears.’ The apex court has to ‘be a catalyst, an organiser, a mentor, an
umpire, a participant, and, above all, a role model, all at the same time, ‘ he said and assured of all cooperation from the
government.
‘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.
Dr Singh said the people’s faith has been reposed in the judicial organ in a
very large measure, and the legal system was manned by legal luminaries
second to none in the world.
Pointing to the innovative legal doctrines and precepts evolved by the
judiciary like the ‘basic structure doctrine’ and ‘public interest
litigation’, he said these had showed new paths to jurisprudence.
‘Judicial review has breached unprecedented frontiers. Yet, amidst such
strengths, brilliance and dynamism, India has to suffer the scourge of the
world’s largest backlog of cases and timelines which generate surprise
globally and concern at home. The expeditious elimination of this scourge is
the biggest challenge for such conferences and should constitute the highest
priority for all of us,’ said Dr Singh.
UNI
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Madras HC: Petition seeking
injunction against TCS dismissed
The Madras High Court dismissed applications seeking an interim injunction
restraining Tata Consultancy Services from infringing the applicant’s copyright
and patent in the invention ‘FLYGUARD’ under the title e-passport (Smartcard)
and as TCS e-passport solution.
The applicant, S Paul Raj, a computer science graduate, said during his
study, he identified several areas in daily life, which could be simplified
with technological intervention. To avoid aircraft being hijacked, he
invented the concept of a travel document, which would be the substratum for
the traveler’s information.
He said he was the owner of the intellectual property in the patent regarding
the invention in the written form of the project concept.
The company’s attempt to infringe the copyright and his patent should be
prohibited.
In its counter, the company submitted the concept was bereft of any novelty.
It was neither original nor new. Such a concept involved technologies that
were already in public domain for a long time.
The applicant admittedly had not operationalised the so-called idea. There
was no patent registration in his name.
In his order, Justice K Chandru said the applicant had neither made out any
prima facie case nor the balance of convenience was in his favour for the
grant of any interim order.
It was not the applicant’s claim that he had a patent for the invention. The
company had established that the concept of e-passport through a smart card
and the biometric concept of introducing chips containing details had already
been in public domain for several years.
This fact coupled with the applicant’s request to the company to provide
employment for him and his family would clearly show that he was not making
any bona fide claim.
The applicant did not satisfy the ingredients for the grant of an interim
order.
UNI
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