In Rajya Sabha, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, in Zero Hour, had pressed upon the need for Supreme Court benches in other parts of India. He suggested this move to clear the clutter of 54,013 pending cases with the Apex Court. He also cited geographical and economical limitations for reaching out to the SC.
Crux of the Matter
Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko had brought back a long-awaited plea of setting up SC benches across India so as to allow litigants more access and flexibility for appealing to the Apex Court.
The cost of travelling, lodging, and legal fees make it impossible for economically weak of southern India to travel to New Delhi, said Vaiko. Availability of SC benches could enhance the judicial system through accessibility and flexibility.
The CJI, under Article 130 of the Constitution of India, can seek the President for the formation of geographical SC benches.
This issue was raised for the first time in 2009. The SC had rejected the plea. Law Commission had then proposed for 4 cassation courts in part of India.
Curiopedia
Pendency of Cases in Indian Courts – Indian courts have millions of pending cases. On average about 20% of the sanctioned positions for judges are vacant, whereas the annual increase in pendency is less than 2%. If the vacancies were filled, pendencies would go down and make the justice system deliver efficiently. In 2015, it was reported that there were close to 400 vacancies for judge’s post in country’s 24 high courts. Arrears in the Supreme Court have mounted to around 54,000. There are some 30 million cases in various courts. Budget allocation for judiciary is a miserly 0.2 per cent of the gross domestic product. The judge-population ratio is 10.5 to one million, which should be 50 to one million. Read More
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