New Delhi: The Eleventh meeting of Advisory Council of National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was held under the Chairmanship of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology on 19th February, 2019. This meeting was attended byShri K. K. Venugopal, Attorney General of India;Shri Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General for India; Dr. G. Narayana Raju, Secretary, Legislative Department; Dr. Alok Srivastava, Law Secretary and Secretary (Justice); Prof. (Dr.) Madhava Menon and senior officers of the Department of Justice. In keeping with the objectives of the Mission, the focus of discussion was on issues which can help in reduction of pending cases in courts as well as review the strategic initiatives which can speed up the delivery of justice besides making it affordable. In this context, the Council discussed ways and means for speedier disposal of cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts, further augmentation of Judicial Infrastructure and Judicial Manpower. The Council also looked at other possibilities including that of filling up of vacancies at the subordinate level for accelerating the pace of disposal of cases pending in District and Subordinate Courts.
The Council also discussed other methods which could be adopted for accelerating reduction of pendency in the courts and use of IT in courts. In this context, the Council discussed the possibilities of making amendments in the existing laws for speedier trial and disposal of cases and Access to Justice for poor and under privileged. In addition to the above, the Council considered re-organisation of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms for close supervision and monitoring of various activities of National Mission Directorate for effective implementation.
The Council also deliberated on the issues linked with Improving India’s Ranking in World Bank Doing Business Report, particularly “Enforcing Contracts”, and implementation of Information and Technology Tools in District and Subordinate Courts to bring about more transparency and expeditious disposal of cases pending in courts.
The Council took note of the on-going efforts for improvement of the court and Case Management System at the initiative of the Apex Court of the country. The Council endorsed the approach which has been discussed in the National Court Management Systems Committee as well as in the Advisory Committee of the National Court Management Systems.
