Swati Rathi

As the famous dictum says delayed is justice denied. It is imperative that a person gets justice within time. Refusal of timely justice is equal to a denial of justice. In India, the existing justice delivery system is not proper and takes an unnecessarily long time to deal with a case. It is due to the enormous backlog of cases. According to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDC), there are 3.3 crore cases pending in India of which Uttar Pradesh (61.58 lakhs) accounts for the highest pendency of cases followed by Maharashtra (33.22 lakhs) and West Bengal (17.59 lakhs). Speedy justice is a fundamental right and has also been reiterated by the Apex Court in a number of cases. Inordinate delay is unjustified and violates the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court in Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar, Abdul Rahman Antulay v. R S Nayak held that the procedure which does not provide for speedy trial cannot be regarded as just, fair and reasonable. The main cause of delay in civil litigation is the complex procedure of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 and overabundance of cases for which the present Judge’s strength is totally deficient. The number of pending cases in India is growing at an alarming rate every day and the litigants face weak prospects of their cases being deferred rapidly. The problems of delay in the existing legal system in India have been extensively examined by the Law Commission of India over the years. The Supreme Court in Imtiyaz Ahmad v. State of Uttar Pradesh coordinated the Commission to attempt an inquiry and present its suggestions for the establishment of additional Courts for the expeditious disposal of matters before a Civil Court. The real issue of delay emerges when the time taken for disposal of a case surpasses the normal time taken to dispose of the case. This undermines the efficiency of the judiciary in India. When a judgement arrives too late it contributes to a negative model of the judiciary in the eyes of the common man. Common people’s faith in the judicial system is lost and they find it difficult to inspire confidence again which leads to a serious implication on the justice system of the country.Delayed justice encourages the culprit to evade the law to the prejudice of the opponent. In the majority of cases, the culprit escapes liability taking advantage of the situation. Sometimes it might also happen that the opponent agrees to the terms of the wrongdoer or loses the case altogether. Every person has a right to speedy trial and refusal to timely justice results in no justice. Pendency of cases for a long time defeats the whole idea of justice and loses people’s confidence in the judiciary. With the number of cases currently pending in India, there are certain cases that are pending in the Courts for more than 10 or maybe 20 years. Various Bail application even pending for Order for Months nd Years in Courts Even When urgent in Nature...It's completely loose the faith of litigants in Judicial system and legal system of any country... The changes brought by the Amendments in 1999 and 2002 to the CPC are basic in nature yet have sweeping results as far as working of Civil Courts in the nation is concerned if they are properly followed. How long should it take to dispose of a case depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. It is not suggested that there should be justice quickly but without observing the procedures of the Code and hastily disposing of the case by the Judges without considering the material evidence and due hearing in every case. ... Changes really Required...My Strong View...Being A member of legal Fraternity..... Swati Rathi Advocate

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