Thanks to Judge DV Shylendra Kumar from People of Republic of India

This post is to thank Judge DV Shylendra Kumar for his courage and to lead by example. Karnataka High Court Judge DV Shylendra Kumar changed the course of Indian Judicial System in biggest way possible. I personally am grateful to him for his bravery, vision, thoughtfulness and patriotism. I hope other judges and lawyers in this country learn from him and disclose their assets publicly. India appreciates Judge DV Shylendra Kumar for his actions and statements that convinced and changed CJI's stand on this issue of pubic disclosure of assets of Judges in India. I salute you, Judge DV Shylendra Kumar. Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan should be ashamed of his resistance to disclose his assets. CJI KG Balakrishnan should resign and take responsibiity for his wrong doings.

Surya Prakash Loonker

Pending Cases: Indian Judiciary's Biggest Challenge

- As of July 2009, 53,000 cases were pending with the Supreme Court, 40 lakhs with High Courts and 2.7 crores with Lower Courts.
- This is an increase of 139% for the Supreme Court, 46% for High Courts and 32% for Lower Courts from their pendency numbers in January 2000.
- 25% of pending cases with High Courts remain unresolved for more than 10 years.
- 70% of all prisoners in Indian Jails are undertrials.
- Maximum pending cases are 9,11,858 in Allahabad High Court and 51,60,174 in Uttar Pradesh's District and Subordinate Courts.

Fresh cases outnumber those being resolved.
- In 2008, Lower Courts settled 1.54 crore cases as compared to 1.24 crore in 1999, an increase of 30 lakh. However, 1.64 fresh cases were filed in 2008, 37 lakh higher than the 1.27 crore figure for 1999.
- Overtime equivalent to nine months would be needed to clear the backlog in Supreme Court.
- On average, High Courts would need about 2 years and 7 months and Lower Courts about 1 year and 9 months.

Strenght of Judges.
- High Courts: Sanctioned 886, Working 606, Vacancy 280
- Subordinate Courts: Sanctioned 16,685, Working 13,556, Vacancy 3,129
- Average disposal per judge: High Courts 2,504 cases in 2008 and Subordinate Courts 1,138 cases in 2008
- 1,547 High Court Judges and 23,207 Subordinate Court Judges are required to clear the backlog in one year.

PM terms backlog as biggest challenge for judiciary

Sun, Aug 16, 2009 14:07:06 IST

Speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in New Delhi on Sunday, Dr Singh said that the elimination of vast number of pending cases in the Indian Courts is the biggest challenge before the judiciary.

PRIME MINISTER Dr Manmohan Singh called upon the judiciary and the executive to work together to make the Indian judicial system arrear free. He was speaking at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in New Delhi on Sunday (August 16). Dr Singh said that the elimination of vast number of pending cases in the Indian Courts is the biggest challenge before the judiciary.

Calling upon the judiciary and the executive to work like two wheels of a chariot, Dr Singh said that institutional interactions like this create a deeper understanding of each others’ perspective, enhance trust and impart the necessary direction and momentum for processes of good governance.

The Prime minister said that despite India having one of the most dynamic judicial systems in the world, the country had to suffer the scourge of having the largest backlog of cases. He said that expeditious elimination of these huge number of cases was the need of the hour.

In the war against arrears, Dr Singh said that the entire legal system and each rung has to work seamlessly, adding that the Apex Court has to play a special role as a catalyst, organiser, mentor, an umpire and also as a role model.

The PM also asked the Chief Justices of the High Courts to initiate steps for filling the high number of vacancies at all levels. He also called for strengthening the state judicial academies to build capacities of judicial officers and called for comprehensive computerisation to link all the courts in the country.

Dr Manmohan Singh also advocated the use of Consensual Dispute Resolution – whether by way of arbitration or diverse forms of mediation – is an effective bypass to litigation, with significant preventive and curative virtues.

He also said that government is working on judicial reforms and a detailed blueprint will be prepared in this regard after consulting the stakeholders.

Meeting to form group working on Incarceration

We at Catalyst – Social Development Consultants P Ltd, New Delhi (CSDC) are hosting an informal meeting to bring together NGOs, individuals, donors working in the area of incarceration of under trials/prisoners in Jails/Prisons of India. The objective is to form a close knit group who will leverage each other's strengths and jointly & cohesively work on the following areas:

- Joint execution of projects
- Joint raise funds for this group/consortium
- Provide a platform for sharing resources including intellect, knowledge, human, technical expertise and contacts for accesses to jails.
- Lobbying with govt to modify laws and enact new laws
- Lobbying with govt to stop incarceration
- Monitor & ensure implementation of laws related to stopping incarceration using tools like RTI, ACB etc.
- Advocacy
- Workshops
- Provide free legal aid to undertrials
- Stopping incarceration by ensuring implementation of existing laws

This meeting will help bring us on the same page and we can design the modalities of working together. The discussions will be focused on incarceration and how to bring all of us together onto a common platform.

Any other related topics you would wish to share or discuss during this meeting for us to work together are most welcome. We kindly request you to make time and send us your mail in confirmation to take this forward. Kindly furnish the name of the participant, organization, designation and address with contact telephone numbers. Everyone is invited.

Date: 05/Sept/09
Time: 15.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs
Venue: Catalyst - Social Development Consultants P Ltd
A – 8, Mandakani Enclave, Opp Kalka Public School,
Opp Petrol Pump, Gate No 7,
Alaknanda, New Delhi - 110 019
Contact person: Mr. V Lakshmi Naryanan Raju
Contact numbers: 011-40533711, 9911751548
E-mail: csdc@catalystindia.net