Must
speed up the justice delivery system-
Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court
Chandigarh, April 20, 2008
The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High
Court, Mr Justice Vijender Jain today enlisted a number of suggestions
like categorization of cases, quick availability of documents
to the litigants and lawyers and unstinted support of Court Staff
and its registry to speed up the justice delivery system and for
effective court management.
Mr Justice Vijender Jain said this while inaugurating the first-ever
conclave of judicial officers at Panchkula today. The conclave
was attended by the judicial officers from the subordinate judiciary
as of the higher judicial services of Punjab and Haryana, besides
the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
He said that categorization of cases raising similar issues particularly
the mass litigation cases like land acquisition cases or income
tax cases if dealt in one group would go a long way in effectively
dealing of cases.
The Chief Justice said that good court management practice required
that information pertaining to a case was timely and readily made
available to the lawyers or litigants. He said there should be
no cause for the litigants to complain against non- availability
of documents relating to the certified copies of an order or the
decree-sheets. If for some reason, these documents were not available,
information in their respect could be disseminated through the
internet or an interactive voice response (IVR) mechanism. The
creating of website would enable those who have access to internet
to obtain necessary information any time.
The Chief Justice said that the efficiency of the courts depended
upon Court staff and the Registry as they were the backbone of
the system. Court management could not succeed without their unstinted
support. They were responsible not only for all the documentation
but also giving effect to miscellaneous orders passed by the Court.
However, he called for strict vigil on them so that any act done
by an individual should not tarnish the image of the judiciary
as a whole.
He said the subordinate judicial officers could perform miscellaneous
tasks including identification of issues, attempting to limited
disputes arising out of pleadings and actively participating in
alternative dispute resolution system. This would make them participative
functionaries in the overall processing of dispensing quick justice
and recognizing their status as one of the stakeholders in the
judicial system, he added.
He said that an essential prerequisite for achieving the goals
of reforms was an efficient and transparent legal system. The
legal system that enables economic choice, promotes ethical and
sound business practices, cut transaction costs and enables healthy
commercial dealings through fair contacts was as essential as
good infrastructure and sound polity. Quick settlement of disputes
especially in economic and commercial transactions was necessary
for free economy. Economic growth of a country was also dependent
on the kind of justice delivery system, he added.
Mr Justice Jain pointed out that every 17th person in the country
had a case going in the courts while six per cent of the country's
population was affected by the litigations. In Punjab and Haryana
more than 10 per cent of the population had been affected by the
litigations. He stressed at the need of quickening the pace of
justice and shortening the time period by the trial of the suits
and criminal proceedings and by the appeals, revisions or reviews
arising out of them, he added.
The chief justice said that despite addressing delay in justice
at innumerable stages, nearly 30 million cases were pending in
various courts all over the country; this figure for a population
of 1400 million was an exorbitantly large. He warned that if this
trend was not checked, the rate of pendency was likely to continue
with the growing population.
Enumerating the causes of the delay, Mr. Justice Jain said these
included loopholes in the law itself, inefficient police investigation
methods, redundant and voluminous paper work lack of infrastructure
and also lack of judicial officers.
He said that while intensive and extensive studies of the problems
faced by the judiciary had been carried out yet no effective grassroot
solution had come about. Giving example, he said that Criminal
Procedure Code had been overhauled and several tribunals had been
set up to provide quick, informal and inexpensive remedies to
the litigants. The attempts at managing judicial system had tended
to be isolated and sporadic, without looking at the overall picture.
Consequently, he said "the legislative changes have only
a cosmetic effect and did not become part of the solution. What
was required is a CT-scan to find a unified and cohesive solution
taking into account the hard realities of the litigation at various
levels".
He suggested capitalization of the revolution in the information
technology as also to identify the changes for the advantage of
the judiciary. He said that for any management to succeed and
t his equally applied to the court management, it was essential
to identify the stake holders. Each of the stake holders-the judges,
the lawyers, the litigants and the court staff including the registry-
had a specific role to play for ensuring the success of the case
management and the court administration.
According to Mr Justice Jain, the time and effort had to be invested
in case management so that the progress of the litigation was
effectively monitored. He said the judge must determine the general
complexity of a case so that its progress could be effectively
managed.
Justice T.P.S. Mann of Punjab & Haryana High Court and Mr.
H.S. Mattewal Advocate General Punjab also attended the conclave
PROCUREMENT
IN PUNJAB FOR CENTRAL POOL SET TO CROSS LAST YEARS' FIGURE: GOVT.
Chandigarh April 20, 2008
– Wheat procurement in Punjab is all set to exceed the
figure achieved last year.
According to Mr. Harcharan Bains, Media Advisor to Chief Minister,
the state and the central agencies had procured 69 lakh Metric
Tonnes of wheat from markets across the state for the central
pool last year while the present trends indicated that the figure
could cross the 80 lakh Metric Tonnes for this season.
Giving figures on the status of procurement in the state, Mr.
Bains said that despite the delay in the start of the procurement
operations because of inclement weather, a total of 26 lakh 68,982
Metric Tonnes of wheat had already been purchased till last evening
(April 19,2008). Although the figure was somewhat lower than that
achieved last year (29 lakh, 22,170 MTs), the difference was largely
because of the comparative absence of private buyers. Significantly,
however, the daily arrivals and purchase had already crossed the
relative figures for the same period in 2007. The state agencies
procured 5.55 lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat on Saturday ( April
19,2008) while the figure for the previous year for the same day
stood at 4.59 lakh MT. The trend continued also for today and
the total procurement was likely to exceed 5.75 lakh MT for Sunday.
Mr. Bains attributed the decline in purchase by private agencies
to the strict vigil being kept by the government against hoarding
and black-marketeering tendencies. 'In addition, as per the new
regulations, any private player who bought more than 10,000 MTs
of wheat is now required to file a return with the government.
Prior government permission is required for the purchase more
than 15,000 MTs of wheat.'
The Media Advisor further said that the government agencies
were fully geared to pick up and clear the entire stock from the
Mandis. "There has admittedly been some difficulty at a couple
of places in the state in immediately clearing the procured stock
but this problem was caused by the sudden glut in arrivals because
of the pressure caused by the anxiety about the weather. As the
arrivals had been somewhat delayed earlier by unhelpful rain and
winds, there was a sudden rush for sale as soon as the weather
cleared. "However, logistics have been strengthened and streamlined
to cope with the heavy inflow.The government will procure and
pick up every single grain that arrives in the Mandis," said
Mr. Bains.
Regarding the payment to farmers, Mr. Bains said that the government
had ear-marked Rs 8500 crore for timely clearance. "Wherever
a delay in payment is reported, the government will act firmly
against anyone responsible. There is no dearth either of funds
or of political will for payment to farmers," he said.
WHEAT PROCUREMENT TOUCHES
26.68 LAC TONNES MARK IN PUNJAB
Chandigarh, April 20, 2008
Six government agencies and private millers have procured more
than 26.68 lac tonnes of wheat in Punjab.
According to an official spokesman Government agencies and private
millers procured more than 26.68 lac tonnes of wheat till Saturday
evening. Out of total procurement of 26, 68,962 tonnes of wheat
in all the procurement centers of Punjab, Government agencies
procured 26, 21,838 tonnes of wheat (98.2%) till date whereas
millers have lifted 47124 tonnes (1.8%) of wheat. Till April 20,
PUNGRAIN had procured 4,67,982 tonnes (17.8%) whereas MARKFED
procured 6,42,336 tonnes (24.5%). PUNSUP procured 606877 tonnes
(23.1%) , PSWC procured 335199 tonnes (12.8%) whereas PAIC was
able to procure 321669 tonnes (12.3 %) of wheat.
The Central Government agency FCI had been able to procure 247772
tonnes (9.5%).
He added that Patiala District with 604113 tonnes of procurement
was leading in procurement operations whereas Sangrur District
with 489810 tonnes of procurement was at second slot and Ferozepur
district with 354565 tonnes of procurement ranked at third position.
The State Government has set up over 1600 procurement centres
and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement
of wheat, the spokesman added.