IIM-Kolkata study on judicial delays: Calcutta HC asked to take ‘necessary action’

NEW DELHI: The Union law ministry has shared an IIM-Kolkata study on the delay in disposal of cases in lower courts with the Calcutta high court for “necessary action”, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Parliament on Friday.
The matter was raised in Lok Sabha through a written question when the minister was asked if the government had initiated any action on the study conducted by IIM. The study, as reported by TOI, has observed that more than 60% of the court time is spent for reasons other than court functioning. It cited judges absence, repeated adjournments and courts refusing to simplify court processes as some of the reasons behind the long list of pendency in lower courts.
“The study has brought out the reasons for delays in processing cases in the judicial system. These are, inter alia, vacancies among judicial officers, judicial officers being assigned administrative duties and responsibilities, inadequate number of courtrooms and high pendency of cases, vacancies among court staff, non-attendance of witnesses, non-appearance of lawyers, length of oral arguments, and adjournments,” the minister said.
Under the Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms scheme of the Union law ministry, the IIM-Kolkata had conducted research titled “Study of Court processes and Re-engineering Opportunities for Improving Court efficiencies for Justice Delivery in India”.
“The study has made recommendations under fouRead More – Source