Editorial: Judicial infra needs boost
Among the many ills plaguing the Indian judiciary, poor infrastructure in courts is an important and pressing one that needs to be fixed urgently. Improving infrastructure in courts is a key component of the larger reforms to ensure speedy and efficient delivery of justice. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana’s suggestion for the establishment of […]
Among the many ills plaguing the Indian judiciary, poor infrastructure in courts is an important and pressing one that needs to be fixed urgently. Improving infrastructure in courts is a key component of the larger reforms to ensure speedy and efficient delivery of justice. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana’s suggestion for the establishment of a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority to standardise and improve judicial infrastructure deserves due consideration. The government need not have apprehensions that the proposed body might usurp its powers. The CJI himself has suggested that the Authority could have representation from the Central and State governments. At present, there is a huge gap between the existing infrastructure and the projected justice needs of the people. The environment in some of the lower courts is so pathetic that women advocates feel apprehensive about entering the courtrooms. The grim state of affairs can be gauged from the fact that nearly half of the court complexes have no purified drinking water facility; only 5% of court complexes have basic medical facilities; only 32% of courtrooms have separate record rooms; only 51% have a library; only 27% of courtrooms have computer placed on the Judge’s dais with video-conferencing facility and over 26% of court complexes do not have separate toilets for women. Many courts still operate from dilapidated structures as improving judicial infrastructure has never been on the priority list of the successive governments.
Since the British left the country, the maintenance of judicial infrastructure was being carried out in an adhoc manner. The Centre must ponder over the issues flagged by the CJI and implement the proposal made by him to establish the National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India, with statutory backing, to help build modern and self-sufficient courts. Such a body will help bring uniformity and standardisation to judicial infrastructure. The judicial infrastructure is a necessary component of justice delivery and its inadequacy adversely affects not just litigants and advocates, but also the judges and the quality of judicial work. While all other sectors have adopted modern communication technologies to improve efficiency and faster delivery processes, the judiciary has been excruciatingly slow in embracing change. The issues of pendency, delays and backlogs can be tackled to a large extent by strengthening the physical, digital and human infrastructure of the courts. The massive pendency of cases in courts in India has not only hampered the administration of justice over decades but has also become a source of friction between the judiciary and the executive. However, it must be pointed out that the government agencies are the biggest litigants, accounting for nearly 50% of the pending cases. Apart from improving physical infrastructure, there is a need to expand digital connectivity for speedy and hassle-free delivery of justice.
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