Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur once again stressed on increasing the strength of Judges in various courts in the country, saying it a voice of people to ensure them justice in the minimum possible time and not for granting more leisure time to the judges.
Chief Justice Thakur was addressing a gathering of mediators at Nyaya Sadan here during a state-level conclave on mediation.
“There are around 5 crore pending cases in the country out of which 2 crore cases are decided by the judges. Hence, I have seen scarcity of judges very closely and have also made honest efforts for increasing their strength,” said the Chief Justice of India. “This is not a demand made by the judges only, but it is the right of the people so that they get speedy justice and do not have to wait for long for it,” he added.
Notably, the CJI had virtually broke down sometime back, while pointing out how the judges’ dismal strength was hampering the justice delivery system.
Praising the efforts made by Jharkhand legal Services Authority (JHAlSA) in disposing of the cases through mediation, Justice Thakur further added that as many as two crore cases are decided in the Courts while 1.5 crore cases are disposed of successfully by these mediation centers. He also appealed to the mediators to involve themselves wholeheartedly in their job.
“It is like a movement….you should get associated with it like a Judge as it is beneficial and meaningful as well,” added Justice Thakur.
Admiring the efforts made by the state government to promote the development of Institutions in Jharkhand, the Chief Justice of India also added, “Those governments which are always ready to invest in Institutions are supposed to be better governments and I am glad to see that the same is being done in Jharkhand also,” he said.
Supreme Court Judge Justice AR Dave also praised the works being done by JHAlSA said that the mediators by disposing the cases out of Court are in a way helping the Judges which is really commendable. “Mediation is a good thing, here there is no appeal and both the partners go home happily,” said Justice Dave.
Calling mediation as the best form of Justice, SC Judge
Justice AK Sikri said that Mediation in most of the circumstances is the best way of resolving issues… We, even as a Judge, do not achieve things which is sometimes are achieved through it, as mediation in most of the circumstances, is the best method of resolving issues,” he said.
Expressing satisfaction over the success rate of JHAlSA in disposing of cases thorough mediation, Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Virender Singh, on the other hand, said that mediation now has become a tool of law and a part of Alternate Dispute Resolution System.
“Under the Chief Justice of India, we have taken a pledge that we will dispose of all the cases which have gone older than 3 years and we are working hard on that,” said the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
Jharkhand High Court Judge cum Executive Chairman of JHAlSA Justice DN Patel expected that they will be able to cross the mark of 50 per cent success rate of mediation in Jharkhand very soon in the coming years.
later, the Judges of Supreme Court and Jharkhand High Court felicitated the mediators who did commendable jobs in their districts. The list includes the names of Suman Kumar Shrivastava from Ranchi, Naseem Ansari from lohardaga, Reena Dey from Godda, lukumuddin Shaikh from Pakur, Anita Verma from Khunti, Anita Chaudhary from Deoghar, Urmila Sharma from Giridih and Rajesh Das from Jamshedpur.
The dignitaries also released a book ‘Nyaya Dagar’ along with seven other booklets.
