Page 37 - VERITAS Vol.2 Issue 2

1. What, according to you, is the main reason for the piling up

of so many cases in the courts, and why do people take laws so

lightly?
The main reason behind the huge pendency of cases in the

courts in India is the huge disparity in the judge-citizen ratio. The

number of judges is highly disproportionate to the population. The

number of judges is 12 -13 per million population as against an

estimated requirement of 50 judges per million population. The

judge-population ratio in India is the lowest in the world. More-
over, 25-30% of the posts out of the existing sanctioned strength of

judges are normally lying vacant at any point in time. A judge in

India handles 4 to 5 times more cases every day than the maximum

a judge can normally handle a day. This results in liberal adjourn-

ments and delays in the disposal.

Another reason is that the institution of cases in the courts far ex-

ceeds their disposal. More cases are filed every year than the num-
ber of cases disposed of. This amounts to adding up more and more

cases to the existing pendency. Even if the judges struggle hard to

dispose of matters proportionate to the pendency, there would not

be any result. The pendency will remain the same or even higher,

depending on the number of institutions of cases.

Yet another reason is the poor infrastructure of courts. The courts

in India still lag in computerization and adapting information tech-
nology.

People take laws lightly not because the punishment for offences

are inadequate. The people in India are very poor followers of our

civic duties and have very poor civic sense. They are too reluctant

to abide by laws, respect their fellow men, and maintain decorum in

public places. This is the reason why people take laws so

lightly.

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Veritas Volume: 2, Issue: 2