Latest news with #HCs
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Rajasthan high court order disappointing, but won't lose cool this time: Supreme Court's Pardiwala bench
NEW DELHI: A bench headed by Justice J B Pardiwala, which had recently passed scathing remarks against a Allahabad high court judge for allowing criminal proceedings in a civil matter, was a portrait of restraint when it found itself dealing with a similar case on Wednesday. "This time I am not going to lose my cool," Justice Pardiwala said at the outset with a smile on his face. The case before it, in which an FIR was filed against a couple for not paying their dues to a seller, who lodged a complaint for recovery of the money, had been adjudicated by the Rajasthan high court . Granting anticipatory bail to the couple, the court said that litigants were forced to move the apex court for relief because proper law was not being applied by lower courts and high courts, which leads to unnecessary litigation and harassment of litigants. In this case, the couple had purchased plywood from a seller and paid Rs 3 lakh but then allegedly refused to pay the balance amount of Rs 12 lakh, making the seller file a case against them. tnn SC: A little application of mind by HCs will curb such litigation The bench held that the problem of not following well-settled law was prevalent across the country and said a little application of mind by HCs would go a long way in curbing such litigation. Appearing against the couple, state govt questioned their conduct, as they had been on the run. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indonesia: Unsold Sofas at Bargain Prices (Prices May Surprise You) Sofas | Search Ads Search Now Undo The bench, however, said this could be because of the fear of police. The bench also disapproved of the stand of the public prosecutor before the HC, contending that it would not be possible to recover the money if bail was granted to the couple. "According to the state, police machinery is required to be involved in the recovery of money. Why do you want police to be involved for recovery of money - to squeeze the remaining amount for the seller?" it asked the advocate appearing for the state.
Time of India
12-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
HC and SC judges on a par; we've no administrative control over HCs: CJI B R Gavai
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday said that constitutionally, high court judges are on a par with its judges. SC has no administrative control over HCs and their judges, but is duty-bound to protect them when they face scandalous allegations, a three-judge bench headed by B R Gavai said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The apex court passed this order while asking a Telangana neta, who had made scandalous allegations against an HC judge, to tender unconditional apology to the judge. CJI: Duty of SC to protect judges from false allegations The politician had made the allegations against the judge in a petition seeking transfer of his case from Telangana HC to Bombay HC's Nagpur bench. The lawyers who signed the petition were also asked by SC to apologise to the judge. Dictating the order in the open court, CJI Gavai said, "When scandalous allegations are made against HC judges, it is the duty of SC to protect them. We notice that now-a-days it has become a trait with lawyers to criticise HC judges. It has also become a trait in matters involving influential political figures. It has become a habit of politicians to allege that he would not get justice before the HC concerned and seek transfer of his petition outside the state. Such practices cannot be allowed to be continued." Elaborating on the position of HCs and their judges in the three-tier justice delivery system, the CJI-led bench also comprising Justices R Vinod Chandran and A S Chandurkar, said, "HC judges are constitutional court judges and enjoy the same immunity and privileges as SC judges. Under the constitutional scheme, judges of HCs are not inferior to SC judges." "Though as an appellate court, SC can reverse, uphold or modify HC judgments, it has no administrative control over HCs or judges of HCs," the bench said. It said that a constitution bench of SC had categorically ruled that not only the petitioner, who makes the scandalous allegations against a judge but the lawyers who draft the petition containing these allegations and file it in court are also liable for contempt of court. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The bench said the politician and the lawyers have tendered unconditional apology to SC. "In our view since the allegations are made against the HC judge, it will be appropriate for the contemnors to tender such apology to the HC judge." SC indicated that on tendering of unconditional apology, the HC would not proceed to take coercive action against the petitioner and his lawyers.
Time of India
11-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
No need for Supreme Court to comment on abilities of high court judges: CJI BR Gavai
NEW DELHI: B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, who is next in line to succeed him, have disapproved of the tendency of judges of superior courts to comment on the knowledge and ability of lower court judges, and said the and high courts are only to correct, modify impugned orders/judgments, or set them aside, if they were perverse. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "The high courts are not subordinate to the SC as both are constitutional courts. SC can only rectify, modify or set aside the orders/judgments of HCs. The Constitution gives no authority to comment on the ability, capability or knowledge of individual judges of HCs," the CJI told TOI. Justice Kant agreed. "Superior court judges must discharge their role as friend, philosopher and guide for lower court judges. In the three-tiered justice delivery system, persuasion and guidance yields better results than criticism and castigation," Justice Kant, who'll take over from Gavai on Nov 24, told TOI. Remarks of the CJI as well as Justice Kant assume significance in the wake of an SC bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan criticising an Allahabad HC judge for passing "the worst and most erroneous order" and barring him from hearing criminal cases. The bench Friday expunged its directions for de-rostering the judge while requesting the HC chief justice to look into the matter. SC has no authority to dictate rosters of HCs: Justice Kant Endorsing the vision encapsulated in the saying 'a judge who has not committed a mistake is yet to be born', CJI B R Gavai told TOI that the same principle applies to HC judges, who should refrain from castigating judicial officers on the ground of lack of ability, knowledge or capability while hearing appeals against impugned orders authored by them. "They must administratively convey how to improve and in which area. For that, HC CJs concerned have a significant role to play. The role of superior courts in imparting required training to lower court judges in various aspects of adjudication, acquiring knowledge in myriad fields of law and maintaining proper demeanour and decorum in the courtroom will shape the future of the justice delivery system and reinforce people's faith in judiciary," the CJI said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Justice Kant said HC judges and judicial officers come from various social strata and bring with them a wealth of real-life experiences which can be harnessed, modulated and sharpened with legal training to enrich the justice delivery system to meet day-to-day challenges of open court hearing and address grievances of litigants. "On the judicial side, SC has no authority to dictate to HCs which of their judges would hear what types of cases or the manner in which cases are to be decided. It can only lead by example and guide them with its judgments. Allocation of cases to judges and their roster squarely falls in the exclusive domain of the HC CJ concerned," Justice Kant said. CJI Gavai said, "Every constitutional court judge, be it in HCs or in SC, has the constitutional responsibility to do justice in each case, whether criminal or civil or any other field of law. Superior court judges have the onerous duty to maintain civility while passing orders or writing judgments."
Time of India
10-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Calcutta HC has highest backlog of cases pending for 50+ years
NEW DELHI: In a ranking that it can do without, Calcutta high court (HC) has topped the list of HCs having huge backlogs of cases pending for disposal for over five decades. The HC, one of the three first set up by the British, has 2,185 such cases yet to be disposed of, which is 94% of the total 2,329 cases pending for over 50 years across all HCs. And since last year, Calcutta HC has added 140 more to its docket. According to the pendency statistics released by Union law ministry on Thursday, there are 22,829 cases pending for 40-50 years at 25 HCs across country, another 63,239 for 30-40 years, over 3.4 lakh for 20-30 years and 11.5 lakh for 10-20 years. The oldest case in a high court is pending for 74 years, since 1951. Only eight HCs besides Calcutta have pendency of cases for over five decades - 56 in Madras HC, 46 in Patna HC, 17 in Allahabad HC, nine in Telangana HC, eight in Orissa HC, four in Madhya Pradesh HC, and two each in Bombay and Punjab & Haryana HCs. In comparison, the district judiciary has done better with only 1,113 cases pending for five decades, of which 39% are only from Bengal. The data was released by law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in response to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The total pendency of cases which are more than 10 years old is at 15,77,191. In response to another question on pendency of cases, Meghwal said several factors lead to long pendency, including "complexity of the facts involved, nature of evidence, cooperation of stakeholders, viz. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like If you have a mouse, play this game for 1 minute Navy Quest Undo bar, investigation agencies, witnesses and litigants, besides the availability of physical infrastructure, supporting court staff and proper application of rules and procedures to monitor, track and bunch hearing of cases". He highlighted that pendency of cases and vacancy for judges in HCs are not necessarily directly related - as of Aug 1, against the sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges in HCs, the working strength was at 778, with 344 vacancies. "Against these vacancies, 138 proposals for appointment of judges are at various stages of processing between govt and SC Collegium," Meghwal said. Govt has not yet received any recommendation against 206 vacancies, he added. This seems to have escaped the attention of the higher judiciary, notwithstanding SC issuing from time to time directives to all HCs to ensure that pendency of all cases over 10 years old is cleared on priority basis. As reported by TOI, govt had set up National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms in Aug 2011 with the objective of improving legal access by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities. Separate arrears committees have also been set up at all 25 HCs to clear cases pending for more than five years. Similar committees are functional at district courts.
The Hindu
30-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Justice on hold: India's courts are clogged
Timely justice is a cornerstone of public trust in the legal system, as captured by the classic maxim 'justice delayed, is justice denied'. Prolonged delays often deter people from approaching courts. Last year, President Droupadi Murmu termed this hesitation the 'black coat syndrome'. Although this has been a perpetual issue in India, the scale is now striking. Over 86,700 cases are pending in the Supreme Court (SC), over 63.3 lakh cases in High Courts (HCs), and 4.6 crore cases in district and subordinate courts. Added up, the total number of pending cases in India amounts to more than 5 crore as shown in the chart below. While the principal actors in the judicial process — judges, lawyers, litigants and witnesses — generally act in good faith and with rational intent, their functioning is often hindered by structural bottlenecks, procedural delays, and systemic constraints. These constraints in case resolution arise from several interlinked factors, including inadequate infrastructure and court staff, complex case facts, the nature of evidence, and degree of cooperation from key stakeholders. Delays are exacerbated by the lack of mandated timelines for different case types frequent adjournments, and weak mechanisms to monitor, track, and bunch cases for hearing. A major contributor is the absence of effective case management and scheduling, with no clear timelines for filings, witness examinations, or hearings. An analysis of the justice delivery timeline in Indian courts reveals stark disparities across court levels and case types, as shown in the chart below. Criminal cases, generally considered as offences against the State, are resolved faster than civil ones, such as property, family or contractual disputes at every tier. HCs lead by disposing of 85.3% criminal cases within a year, followed by the SC at 79.5%, and district courts at 70.6%. The real concern lies in civil litigation at the district level, which handles the bulk of India's pending cases, where only 38.7% civil cases are resolved within a year, and nearly 20% stretch beyond five years. This means that courts serving the most litigants are the least equipped to ensure timely justice. Although the judiciary and the government consistently introduce various reforms, a major systemic cause of judicial delay is the persistent gap between the sanctioned and actual strength of judges across courts, as shown in the chart below. India's judiciary functions at just 79% of its capacity. Out of 26,927 sanctioned posts, 5,665 are vacant, resulting in overwhelming workloads. District and subordinate courts, which handle the bulk of litigation, have a sanctioned strength of only 25,771 judges, averaging 18 judges per 10 lakh population. India operates with just 15 judges per 10 lakh population. Even at full sanctioned strength across all courts, it would reach only 19 judges per 10 lakh population — far below the 1987 Law Commission's recommendation of 50. Alongside broader legal and procedural reforms, alternative dispute resolution offers a promising way forward to ease the burden on traditional courts and deliver quicker, more affordable, and citizen-friendly justice. Mechanisms such as mediation, arbitration, and Lok Adalats provide flexible alternatives for resolving disputes outside the traditional courtroom. The success of National Lok Adalats, which are organised simultaneously in all taluks, district courts, and HCs on a pre-fixed date is evident from the chart below: between 2021 and March 2025, they resolved over 27.5 crore cases, including 22.21 crore pre-litigation and 5.34 crore pending court cases.
