Letters: Compounded solution

In his column "Courts should revise penalty upward, compound it" (Frankly Speaking, November 18) Harsh Roongta has made the valuable point that all the parties who have to pay compensation as a result of court cases deliberately delay the judgments. This is because the monetary awards by courts carry simple interest and delays in the judgment reduces the value of the award. The difference between the simple and compound interest on the sum payable calculated from the day of filing of the case is enormous. Like most of our laws this is an anomaly that was inherited from the days of the British Raj. This law was revised in the UK over 20 years back, but vested interests in India have managed to prevent the required change in the Civil Procedure Code.

If the "at-fault" party is made to pay compound interest, then most of the deliberate delays in our courts could disappear overnight.

Alok Sarkar Kolkata

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