Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI shows cases pending for decades in HC

RTI shows cases pending for decades in HC

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jan 9, 2013   modified Modified on Jan 9, 2013
-The Times of India

The Nirbhaya case may have prompted the judiciary to put hearings related to crimes against women on the fast track, but anRTI reply has laid bare just how challenging the problem of pendency is in the Delhi high court. A litigant who filed a civil suit in 1972 is still waiting for its outcome; two criminal appeals filed in 1976 are pending ; bail pleas are waiting to be disposed of since 2009; and judgments are lying reserved for pronouncement since 2011.

For the first time, an RTI query has exposed in exhaustive detail the extent of systemic ills plaguing the appellate system that leads to long delays for litigants with faith in the judicial system being the casualty. Filed by lawyer Manish Khanna, the reply to the RTI application shows that at present the HC doesn't follow any model case flow system related to management of cases and nor has it prioritized cases into Track I - Track IV as advised by Supreme Court in a 2005 judgment. The HC administration has said the draft prepared by its registry relating to case flow management rules for HC is "under the consideration of a committee of Honble Judges."

Khanna had sought details of oldest cases pending before HC besides information if the court had any record regarding cases where appeals have been made against acquittal by a trial court. The RTI divided the query into civil cases and criminal cases and sought adetailed break-up of pendency . When he got the response, Khanna was shocked to know that the oldest civil cases pending date back to almost 40 years. For example, the computerized records of the court reveal that the oldest civil suit on the original side (cases instituted directly in HC) was filed in 1972 followed by two other cases filed in 1973 with the most recent of the oldest civil suit pending dated 1980.

The RTI reply says that two of the oldest criminal appeals pending in HC were filed in 1976 while the oldest criminal miscellaneous applications still being heard by HC were filed more than a decade ago - in 1999. Interestingly, legal activists point out that most miscellaneous pleas are filed by one or the other affected party to stall the trial since it challenges an interim order of the trial court. If these remain undecided for a decade or more, the trial in the case gets stalled as both parties await outcome of the application .

Criminal revision petitions , which urge the court to have a relook at its earlier orders , are pending from 1994 onwards. Even more shocking is the fate of some of the first appeals - cases in which a litigant comes for the first time in appeal against a decision of the trial court - with three such pending cases having been filed between 1974 and 1977.

The RTI reply also furnishes details that are not readily available to lawyers and litigants alike - judgments kept reserved by judges for years. In 2001, Supreme Court had in its celebrated verdict, "Anil Rai vs State of Bihar", laid down stringent criteria to be followed by HC while delivering judgments. It said there shouldn't be any "unreasonable delay between hearing of arguments and delivery of judgments" , saying that if judgments are not pronounced within three months, any of the party can seek an early decision. Khanna's RTI reveals several cases pending for pronouncement since August -December 2011.

While the Chief Justice of India in a recent letter addressed to all the chief justices asked them to "ensure that cases relating to offences against women are fasttracked and taken up for hearing on a priority basis, both at the high court and district court level" , the RTI response reveals much more needs to be done to reduce pendency.

The Times of India, 9 January, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/RTI-shows-cases-pending-for-decades-in-HC/articleshow/17948499.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close