The Hindu : Front Page : ‘Stand on new courts not reassuring’

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‘Stand on new courts not reassuring’

Staff Reporter

150 courts will be started in State to make judicial system more effective: CJI

‘Village courts will change judicial scene’
Says judicial system in State is faultless

Thrissur: Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan on Saturday said the Kerala government’s response to moves to start new courts had not been reassuring.

He was addressing the valedictory function of the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Irinjalakuda Courts.

“For several years, we have been demanding new courts for Kerala. I hope the State government will take a positive step in this direction.”

He said that 150 courts would be started in the State. “With the institution of a court for every four or five villages and an increase in the number of district courts, the judicial system in the State will be more effective. Gramin nyayalayas (village courts) will change the judicial scene. Each will function like the unit of a civil judge junior division having the powers of a munsiff. Not all powers are being conferred to these courts. After assessing the number and nature of cases to be tried in these courts, they can be conferred more powers.”

The Chief Justice of India observed that courts in many parts of the country could not hold a candle to those in Kerala. “In Kerala, the judicial system is faultless and sacrosanct, the kind of which is not seen elsewhere. Officers work efficiently. An increase in the number of cases being filed shows that people are not excluded from the judicial system. Reports in a section of the media that 37 cases related to family relations reach the Kerala courts every day indicate that the judicial system is effective. Family courts try to protect the institution of marriage, to solve problems between couples and re-unite them,” he said.

He said that judges in Kerala were forced to handle a huge number of cases because there were few courts. “In a former Russian State, a judge handled 90 cases a month. In Kerala, a judge does 90 cases a day,” he added.

Call for alternative

Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court S.R. Bannurmath said that alternative dispute redressal systems should be encouraged.

Kerala High Court judge Kurian Joseph said that only 0.49 per cent of the annual State budget was being spent for development of judiciary. “As many as 412 courts function with only two-thirds of required staff. But the number of cases has increased enormously over the years.”

High Court judges V. Ramkumar, P.Q. Barkat Ali, District and Sessions Judge B. Kemal Pasha, P.C. Chacko, MP, Thomas Unniyadan, MLA, and K.R. Achuthan, president, Bar Association, Irinjalakuda, were among those present on the occasion.

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