The Centre plans to introduce evening courts in Delhi, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh as a pilot project to expedite the disposal of pending cases, Union minister of state for Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Wednesday.
Under the proposed arrangement, courts functioning during regular hours will extend their sittings by a few hours in the evening to reduce the backlog.
Speaking to mediapersons at the residence of senior advocate Neeraj Mani in Ramnath, Deoria, Meghwal said the government was examining several measures to address judicial pendency. He was in the district to attend a tribute ceremony for former Deoria MP and retired Lieutenant General Shriprakash Mani Tripathi at his ancestral village Bharpur.
Highlighting the scale of the problem, Meghwal said over 96,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, around 70 lakh in the country’s 25 High Courts and nearly 4.3 crore in district courts.
He said the government had begun analysing how long individual cases had remained pending to prioritise older matters for early disposal. Some cases had been pending for 30 to 40 years, even though witnesses were no longer alive. Cheque-bounce cases also accounted for a significant share of the backlog, he added.
Acknowledging reservations among some lawyers over evening sittings, Meghwal expressed hope that young advocates would participate in the initiative. He also said the Constitution provided for appointing retired judges to help address pendency.
{{/usCountry}}Acknowledging reservations among some lawyers over evening sittings, Meghwal expressed hope that young advocates would participate in the initiative. He also said the Constitution provided for appointing retired judges to help address pendency.
{{/usCountry}}The minister said artificial intelligence (AI) and other technological interventions would be used to improve judicial efficiency and reduce the backlog.