Law ministry shortchanged

The UPA government has once again shied away from providing adequate funds to the law ministry to materialize its plan to bring down pendency of cases, reports Nagendar Sharma.

The UPA government has once again shied away from providing adequate funds to the law ministry to materialize its plan to bring down pendency of cases.

HT Image

A meager Rs 260 crore was allocated to the ministry in the Union budget this year, the same as last year (2008-09).

The government seems to have ignored repeated appeals by the Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, who has been advocating more funds for “new courts and better infrastructure facilities in the lower courts.”

No announcement has been made for providing separate funds to set-up new CBI courts and family courts, both of which figured prominently in Law Minister M Veerappa Moily’s statement last month.

Shockingly, only Rs 90 lakh has been provided to set-up village courts (gramin nyayalayas), a flagship programme of the ministry.

A total of Rs 85 crore has been set aside for setting-up special and fast track courts. “This is wholly inadequate…,” pointed out Dr EM Sudarsana Natchiappan, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Law and Justice in last Lok Sabha.