Forum for Fast Justice seeks 'portfolio judge' appt for states

A Delhi-based trust which has been organising 'Nyay Yatra' to create awareness among common people about judiciary, today urged Chief Justice of India to appoint Supreme Court judges as 'portfolio judge' for every state to ensure speedy justice to people.
"The process will be identical to what it is at High Courts. Currently HC Chief Justices appoint its judges as 'portfolio judges' of the districts courts," national convener of Forum for Fast Justice, Praveen Patel said.
The 35-day 'Nyay Yatra', aiming to sensitise the masses on the need for judicial reforms and to urge the concerned agencies to act swiftly for the same, todayreached Raigarh district in north Chhattisgarh.

The forum has sought to video-graph the entire proceedings of district courts, high courts and Supreme Court, besides installing CCTV cameras in the premises in order to bring transparency and prevent corruption within the judicial system, Patel said.
At least22 lakh cases were pending in 1956 which had reached to 3.30 crore in 2012. If this system continues, the pending cases will touch 15 crore, he said adding that backlog of cases is a major issue in the current scenario and has to be dealt with seriously.
He further suggested to constitute a five-member review committee of senior judges to fix responsibility of judges, besides taking action against them if they are found guilty of delivering wrong judgements.

The yatra had started on January 30 from Rajghat in New Delhi and it will cover 175 districts of 22 states spreading the message of 'save judiciary, save the country'.
Among the main demands of the yatra are - all courts proceedings should be in national and regional languages, judgements be passed in time-bound manner, judiciary be brought under the RTI Act, disclosure of assets by judges, and opening of additional courts to clear the backlog of three crore cases.