With the stature and quality of our legislators and parliamentarians declining by the day and the executive succumbing to the pressures of the politicians, the public has to rely on the judiciary to see to it that justice prevails in terms of the provisions of our Constitution.
The salaries, perks and benefits of the judicial officers have to improve to attract the right people to the sacred job of dispensation of justice. The Jessica Lal and other cases have reinforced the need of urgent changes to the criminal procedures and Indian penal codes. The trial of cases relating to serious offences like murder, dacoity, molestation and rape have to be attended on a fast track basis. No stone should be left unturned for the speedy disposal of cases. Shorter vacations, longer working hours and night courts could all help clear the backlog and dust that has settled over the files awaiting their turn at the temples of justice across the country. There is need to effect organisational and functional changes in our courts with meticulous preparation and remarkable devotion by the staff to meet the challenge of the need of speedy disposal of cases. An initial assessment, supplemented by a series of internal measures could improve the effectiveness of working methods. There is a need to think long and hard about the manner in which the courts work in order to make them more efficient and counteract the expanding average length of proceedings. There is a need of putting in place a more rigourous system for managing the courts judicial work with the aid of computer tools developed specially for the purpose. There is obviously a need to speed up the procedures and adopt a much stricter approach in granting adjournments. Ways would have to be evolved to check frivolous litigations. Perhaps a party that is unsuccessful must in principle bear in addition to his own cost, those of the opposing party. The backlog of pending cases as on July 2005 in our clogged courts across the country was 2,86,811,33. The pile up is just getting worse. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)
