Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel has said that he will strive to expedite the disposal of cases, particularly the old ones, pending in various district courts, at least by 10 percent every month.
“This is an achievable target. And we will do it not by coercion, but by motivating the judicial officers across the State. We are going to introduce an upgraded marking system for those judicial officers who will be clearing such cases, which have been pending for years,” Justice Patel, who took over as acting Chief Justice on Saturday after superannuation of Justice P K Mohanty, said.
It is for the third time that Justice Patel has been appointed the acting CJ since he joined the Jharkhand High Court on February 3, 2009.
Around 3.25 lakh cases are said to be pending in the district courts while the Jharkhand High Court has over 90,000 pending cases.
“Normally, the judges avoid the old cases, because these take a long time for disposal as the records are voluminous and there happen to be a large number of exhibits and witnesses. So, I will request the zonal high court judges, who monitor a set of district courts, to appraise the performance of a judicial officer on the basis of disposal of old cases and award higher points than they normally mark in their confidential reports,” he told The Pioneer.
“Also, I want the judicial officers to be in court and, that too, in time,” he said. Citing an example, Justice Patel said that if a batsman continues to hold the pitch in a cricket match, he is bound to score runs even if he is slow. So, if a judge reaches the court room in time and be there, judicial arrears are bound to be cleared, he maintained.
“Also, the cases involving women, senior citizens, juveniles and disabled will be heard on priority basis. Besides, we will also be issuing a fresh circular to expedite the corruption cases pending in various special courts,” he said.
He said that he is a strong believer in team efforts and will be speaking to district judges through video conferencing in the next week to hand over them the task.
The Acting CJ, who is also a member of general body of National Judicial Academy, Bhopal and National legal Services Authority (NAlSA), said that he will soon initiate the process of filling up judges’ vacancies in the district courts. “Normally, the process of appointment in the ranks of additional district judges and Munsifs take a time of almost one year, but once the ball rolls, the task is bound to be accomplished,” he pointed out.
“Besides, expediting the ongoing projects, including construction of new building of the high court will be another area of focus,” he added.
Justice Patel, who also happens to be the Executive Chairman of the Jharkhand State legal Services Authority (JHAlSA), said that various steps of alternative dispute resolution will get fresh impetus. “We are opening an Inclusive Justice Centre in Namkum (Badam village) where officers from Judiciary, Executive and also Mukhiyas will be present every day to hear the grievances of the people at the panchayat level and hand over justice then and there. Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Mishra will inaugurate the centre on June 17,” he added.