The Supreme Court on Wednesday took a bold step to explore possibility of having a National Court of Appeal that could hear and decide all appeals arising from High Courts, leaving only constitutional questions to travel to the Supreme Court for adjudication.
Referring the issue to a Constitution Bench, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said that the need has arisen as the Supreme Court's docket is bursting at its seams with no solution available to clear the backlog. The Court even raised an important constitutional issue whether having a National Court of Appeal in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata could ensure litigants their right to obtain justice. Statistics revealed that over the years, few appeals were filed against orders passed by High Courts located in far south while majority were from High Courts located in north India.
"In view of cases pending in the Supreme Court of India on average for about 5 years, in the High Courts again for about 8 years, and anywhere between 5-10 years in Trial Courts...Would it not be part of the responsibility and duty of the Supreme Court of India to examine through a Constitution Bench, the issue of divesting the Supreme Court of about 80 per cent of the pendency of cases of a routine nature, to recommend to Government, its opinion on the proposal for establishing four Courts of Appeal," the bench also comprising Justices R Banumathi and UU lalit said.