Appointments of judges on vacant posts and limitation of the judiciary in ensuring good governance have been some of the vital points that have surfaced recently and they therefore need analysis in national interest. The Supreme Court has recently said that judiciary has limited capacity to change things and cannot be expected to solve all ‘human problems’.
While all human problems cannot be solved by the judiciary, at least one problem of decentralisation of justice administration can be solved if the higher echelons of both the judiciary and the government can pursue the matter in view of the high principle of ‘ justice to doorsteps’ or affordable justice to common man or ‘Aam Aadmi’. While the Union government and the Supreme Court are expected to sort out the issue of judges’ appointments on priority basis, the decentralisation of justice administration is also purely in interest of people located in a large country and in varied locations in various states. Judicial reforms proclaimed to be implemented in the election manifestos will have no value or significance if common litigant is not provided facilities to get easy and affordable justice.
Thousands of pending cases in High Courts and the Supreme Court are indicative as to how the concentration of the justice administration delays the judicial process at the cost of common litigants. The concepts of ‘justice at doorstep’ remains only a dream if a common litigant has to run to state capital for his case in high court and at the national capital for the Supreme Court. Senior advocates in Mumbai have first voiced their demand in 2006 for SC’s division benches in four metros in the country including Mumbai and the demand is still pending. If the demand for the SC’s division benches at four or five metro cities, litigants from south India need not rush to Delhi. The formation of the HC’s division benches at various regions in states and SC’s division benches at prominent metro cities in states would certainly be in public interest and common litigants will be able to approach the appropriate Courts for justice. At present only the high profile litigants seem to be easily rushing to HC and the SC for their genuine or strategic cases.
