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"Dearth of courts worrying"

Staff Reporter

CJI cites falling sex ratio and immoral trafficking as issues

Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer with Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan in Kochi on Sunday.

KOCHI: The delay in ensuring justice to all people who sought it remained one of the major causes of worry, said Chief Justice of India (CJI) K.G. Balakrishnan here on Sunday.

Speaking at a civic reception accorded to him by a Committee of Hosts involving nearly a 100 organisations in the city, Mr. Justice Balakrishnan said the number of people approaching the courts had increased manifold, while the number of courts had not.

"It is good to know that people are seeking to approach the courts, but it would certainly help the courts if the people in some cases could also find some means for out-of-court settlement. We are way behind in providing the number of judges or courts as in the U.S. or the U.K. The country cannot afford to meet such large-scale expenses," he said.

The Kerala High Court had nearly 10,000 writ petitions in 1997, but now, the number stood at 35,000. The Supreme Court had 31,000 cases 10 years ago, but now it had more than 51,000 cases. There were about 8,000 cases pending with the Central Bureau of Investigation courts, but there were so few courts to handle them.

`Balakrishnan era'

Earlier, inaugurating the function, V.R. Krishna Iyer, former Supreme Court judge, said that he hoped that Mr. Justice Balakrishnan's tenure as Chief Justice would not just be a historical date, but also be remembered as the "Balakrishnan era." His appointment to the apex court would provide solace to a number of poor and downtrodden., as he was known to be just with the social, economic and political issues of the people. Mayor Mercy Williams presided. Deputy Mayor C.K. Mani Sankar welcomed the gathering. T.M. Mohammed Youseff, general convenor of the programme, introduced the chief guest.

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