Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. file | Photo Credit: PTI
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has said that the basic purpose of the Supreme Court is to listen to every little call to protect individual liberty and fundamental rights.
But pendency is a perennial shortcoming which affects the role of the court as a timely protector of the rights of citizens.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has reportedly said that the court is bogged down in “frivolous” PILs and bail applications. The “extra burden” has reduced the efficacy of the administration of justice. The government’s focus on bail pleas as one of the reasons for slow justice comes at a time when all 13 benches of the Supreme Court hear about 10 bail pleas a day. The CJI has made it clear that bail applications deal with the question of personal liberty and should not be delayed.
Further, public interest litigations have raised important issues such as an independent and neutral mechanism for the appointment of election commissioners, recently a constitution bench orally pointed out how the independence of the election body by appointing the government was merely “lip- paying for the service”. Bureaucrats who cannot even complete the statutory six-year term in office.
But the data shows that the shadow of backlog continues to loom, threatening to swallow up good work.
In fact, an incensed Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked in November that “expansion of access to the Supreme Court” was making things worse. The Chief Justice said the judiciary was “overburdened by the system”.
Parliament data shows that as of December 13, 2022, there are 498 constitution bench cases pending in the Supreme Court.
Public litigation claims a large portion of the court’s space, of which 2,870 are pending. The pendency of the court in special leave petitions and writ petitions amounts to 4,331 and 2,209 respectively.
There are 487 election cases pending in the apex court. The total number of pending cases related to crimes against women related to “harassment, dowry cruelty and death, eve-teasing, domestic violence” is 283, according to data from the Integrated Case Management Information System. Some of these cases are from 2014. Incidentally, the number of contempt of court cases pending in the Supreme Court till December 16, 2022 stood at 1,295.
Figures placed on record by the Law Ministry in Parliament show that the Supreme Court has disposed of 10 constitution bench cases in 2022 till December 13; substantial 29,866 special leave petitions; 974 PILs, which is almost double the number of PILs disposed of last year; 1,316 writ petitions; 286 election cases and 1,590 contempt cases.
In its reply to the Lok Sabha in December about “reasons for delay in disposal of cases”, the law ministry said it was a “multi-dimensional problem”.
“With the increase in the population of the country and awareness among the public about their rights, filing of new cases is also increasing manifold year after year. Each case is unique and variable in nature, therefore, no specific time-frame can be laid down with regard to disposal of cases. Myriad factors come into play,” the ministry said.
Vacancies of judges, frequent adjournments and lack of adequate system to monitor, track and pile up cases for hearing are also factors that lead to pendency.
The ministry said that timely disposal of cases would involve various factors, including availability of adequate number of judges and judicial officers, supporting court staff and physical infrastructure, complexity of facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders and compliance with rules and regulations. Proper application of procedures is involved.
The government, however, admitted that the Supreme Court could reduce pendency in a “multi-pronged” fashion by setting up vacation benches in the summer vacation, setting up special benches to adjudicate labor disputes, cases dealing with motor accidents, direct taxes, etc. working towards. , Indirect Taxes and Old Criminal Appeals.