Kerala - Kochi   

`Judicial officers have an important role'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, DEC. 19. The Supreme Court Judge Y.K. Sabharwal has cautioned judicial officers that justice should not be denied while providing speedy justice.

He was inaugurating the Kerala State District Judges Conference here today. The Judge said that the role of judicial officers was very important. They should play a participatory role while hearing the cases.

The aggrieved persons should be encouraged to come to the court of law. If litigants feel that the court would not look into their case and dispose it speedily, they would not approach the court. There are recommendations to remove the hurdles in the way of dispensation of justice, but until judicial officers fully participated in the dispute redressal process, cases would not be disposed of quickly.

The judicial officers should carry forward the task assigned to them by the Constitution makers, though most of them are forced to work in "terrible condition," Mr. Sabharwal said.

Working conditions

He said that the Chief Justice of India was taking steps to provide better working conditions for the judges in the lower judiciary.

He stressed the need for evolving good management in the subordinate courts to clear the backlog of cases. The Supreme Court had a huge backlog of cases but it was reduced considerably because of the application of case management methods in the apex court. These methods were scientific and should be followed in all courts, he said.

Presiding over the function, the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, B. Subhashan Reddy, said that the judicial officers should strive to see that the aspirations of the people are not frustrated. There was lack of proper infrastructure for the subordinate judiciary. However, such inadequacies should not discourage the judicial officers from ensuring that people get speedy justice. He said the State had a backlog of 6 lakhs cases. Of these, 1.5 lakhs cases were pending in the subordinate courts.

Mr. Reddy said that litigants should be persuaded to seek remedies through the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms such as Lok Adalat. Other States had separate buildings for redressing the grievances of the citizens out of court. But there was no such building for holding Lok Adalats in the State, he said.

He said that the judicial officers should pay special attention to cases involving women and senior citizens.

The subordinate judicial system in the State was yet to be computerised. Other States were well ahead in the computerisation of the lower judiciary, he added.

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