‘Will not get date after date’, how much truth is there in Modi’s claim? 5 crore cases pending, trial of Kolkata case has not even started

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently said in Chandigarh that speedy justice has become possible under the new criminal laws. he/she said the days of ‘tarikh pe tarikh’ or long drawn-out trials for criminals are now over. Dedicating the successful implementation of the three new criminal laws to the nation, the PM said that the Indian Judicial Code is woven with the ideals of equality, harmony and social justice. ‘Tarikh pe tarikh’ is a popular dialogue of actor Sunny Deol in the film ‘Damini’, in which he/she regrets the culture of repeatedly giving dates of cases in the courts.
According to legal experts, whatever PM Modi said is still far-fetched. Actually, these laws have come into effect from July this year. There are already 5 crore cases pending in the country, it will take years to settle them. These cases will be settled under old laws.

So it will take 324 years to settle all the pending cases.

Advocate Shivaji Shukla in Delhi’s Saket Court says that at present around 5 crore cases are pending in all the courts of the country. The speed of disposal of these cases is so slow that it will take years to dispose of them completely. In 2018, NITI Aayog had said that even if new cases are left out, it will take 324 years to resolve these cases.

5 crore cases pending in the country will be heard using old laws

Shivaji Shukla says that all these 5 crore cases are before the implementation of the Indian Justice Code in July this year. In such a situation, these cases will be heard under the old laws only. The new law will not apply to them. As far as speedy hearing in some cases is concerned, earlier also this used to happen in fast track courts. Even in rape and murder cases, there are examples of sentencing within 3 months.

Hearing in Kolkata rape and murder case not started even after 3 months

According to Shivaji Shukla, now look at the RGkar rape-murder case of Kolkata. This case was registered in August. On November 4, Sealdah Court of West Bengal framed charges against the main accused Sanjay Roy. The case in this case is to be heard on a daily basis from November 11. A trainee doctor was raped and murdered on the night of August 8 at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. This case must have been registered under the new law only. But, even after 3 months, the hearing of this case has not started properly.

What is the status of pending cases in the country, know here

According to the Indian Judicial Data Grid, pendency of court cases in India means the delay in providing justice to the aggrieved person or organization in all courts. The number of pending court cases across India increased to 5 crore in 2022, including 1.69 lakh cases pending for more than 30 years in district and high courts. As of December 2022, out of 5 crore cases, 4.3 crore i.e. more than 85% of the cases are pending in the district courts only.

Arrested at the age of 28, jailed without trial till the age of 58

Of these 5 crore pending cases, the government itself is the biggest litigant, where 50 percent of the pending cases are from the states only. India has the highest number of pending court cases in the world. Delay in courts leads to delay in providing justice to both the victim and the accused. In April 2022, a court in the state of Bihar acquitted a murder accused due to lack of evidence after spending 28 years in jail. he/she was arrested at the age of 28 and released without trial at the age of 58.

There should be 50 judges per 10 lakh population, currently there are 14.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) suffers a loss of 1.5%-2% due to pending cases. The main reason for the pendency is the low number of judges and non-judicial staff. The sanctioned number of judges in India in 2022 was 21.03 per million population. Whereas, the actual number of judges was 14.4 per million population. The total sanctioned strength of judges was 34 in the Supreme Court, 1108 in the High Courts and 24,631 in the District Courts. The Law Commission of India and the committee headed by Justice VS Malimath had recommended increasing the number of judges to 50 per million population.

Only 0.08 percent of GDP is spent on judiciary

The expenses of the Supreme Court are borne by the Central Government. At the same time, the expenses of the High Court and District Court of every state are borne by the respective state government. As of 2018, 92% of all expenditure on the judiciary was borne by states. In 2019, India spent 0.08% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on the judiciary. All states and union territories, except Delhi (whose budget is 1.9% of total state GDP), allocated less than 1% of their annual budget on the judiciary. At the same time, America spends 2% of its annual budget on judiciary.

It is not that it is just date after date, cases are being resolved rapidly.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha in 2022, said that till September 2022, more than 1.76 crore cases have been disposed of in lower courts across the country. The High Court has disposed of approximately 15 lakh cases, while the Supreme Court has disposed of more than 29 thousand cases till October 2022. The Supreme Court has disposed of 52,191 cases in 2023.

Why is there delay, what are the important reasons for pending case

According to Advocate Shivaji Shukla, the duration of a court case depends on many factors. This can generally last from a few months to several years. Some of the key factors have been the complexity of the case, court schedule, efficiency of legal representation, nature of the dispute and difficulty in gathering evidence and witnesses turning hostile.

Two important instructions of the Supreme Court to settle the pending case

On October 20 this year, the Supreme Court had asked the Chief Justice to form a committee to settle the cases pending for more than 5 years, which could continuously monitor them. The court says that lakhs of people file petitions in the hope of justice. It is our responsibility to ensure that all people get justice. Delay in justice causes people to lose confidence in the court.
All courts in the districts and talukas will have to ensure that the parties appear on the appointed day after completion of arguments. Apart from this, statements of cases should be recorded within 30 days. If someone’s statement could not be recorded within the deadline, then explain in writing why it was delayed.