Syllabus: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
Context
- The Supreme Court linked the stagnation in subordinate judicial services to massive pendency in district courts.
- Over 4.69 crore cases are pending in district courts, indicating systemic inefficiency.
- Training concerns were highlighted as some judges lacked basic legal understanding.
Key Structural Problems in Lower Judiciary
- Procedural Inefficiencies
- Subordinate judges spend mornings on clerical processes such as issuing summons, calling cases, and receiving vakalatnamas.
- Quality judicial time is significantly reduced, weakening final disposal and prolonging litigation.
- Inexperienced Judicial Cadre
- Many judges enter service without practical exposure or mentoring, making them ill-equipped for complex matters.
- Lack of adequate training results in delays in passing orders and poor quality adjudication.
- Legislative Overreach Creating Delays
- New statutory provisions often add layers instead of expediting disposal.
- Mandatory pre-suit mediation under Commercial Courts Act (Sec. 12A) leads to unnecessary procedural burden.
- Cooling-off period in mutual consent divorce adds avoidable delay.
- Ambiguities in new Rent Act increase forum confusion and jurisdictional disputes.
- Archaic Procedural Law
- Outdated CPC provisions hinder speedy adjudication.
- Multiple decrees in partition suits and cumbersome Order XXI execution rules delay final enforcement.
- Rigid timelines (e.g., 90-day written statement rule) fail to improve case outcomes.
Key Suggestions for Reform
- Administrative Reorganisation
- Appoint a junior judicial officer exclusively for clerical and ministerial functions in each district court.
- Allow trial judges to begin merits hearings from 10:30 a.m. daily for continuous disposal.
- Strengthening Judicial Training
- Mandatory multi-month training at High Court Benches for new judges to observe judicial culture, argumentation, and order-writing standards.
- Procedural Simplification
- Streamline CPC provisions:
- Merge preliminary and final decrees in partition suits.
- Simplify execution proceedings and introduce fast-track enforcement.
- Remove or relax provisions that cause artificial delays (e.g., mandatory mediation in commercial cases; rigid cooling-off periods).
- Streamline CPC provisions:
- Improve Recruitment Quality
- Recruit competent lawyers with adequate bar experience to enhance judicial reasoning and order quality.
Conclusion
- Addressing pendency requires procedural overhaul, better-trained judges, simplified laws, and structural reforms.
- Without modernising lower judiciary functioning, neither pendency nor stagnation can be resolved.