Govts biggest litigants, should fight cases when necessary: Law Commission

The government should direct state authorities to set up fast track courts, says the Law Commission.

The Law Commission of India in its report (230th) on ‘Reforms in the Judiciary’, submitted to the government in August 2009, made some pertinent observations on improving the efficiency of the judiciary.

“Judicial reform, as is being looked at, is essential for the country’s overall development, not just economic; in India, the problem is more human than economic,” stated the report, authored by Justice A R Lakshmanan, chairman, Law Commission of India.

While judicial accountability is connected to the larger area of judicial reforms, the report said, it went on to caution that just increasing the number of courts and judges will not help. “We are not very sure that increasing the number of courts and judges will ameliorate the situation unless there is a simultaneous productivity increase in courts! We feel strongly about the issue!” the report said.

The commission was clear in it its assessment that the responsibility of de-clogging the judiciary laid with the central and state governments. “They are the biggest litigants in the courts. They should approach the courts or contest cases only if necessary and not just to pass on the buck or contest for the sake of contesting,” the report noted.

In the opinion of the commission, the government should direct state authorities to set up fast track courts in the country to solve the perennial problem of pendency of cases. Also, it advocated prescribing time-limits for all cases, but noted there can’t be one prescribed limit.