February 24, 2015
Vivek Gupta makes a Special Mention on the condition of Fast Track Courts in India | Transcript
I would like to draw the attention of the House to the number of pending court cases, a number has crossed the three-crore mark.
Sir, in 2013, more than 63,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, registering a 9% rise since 2011, and the number of such cases continues to increase. Sir, over 2.6 crore cases are pending in district and subordinate courts and 44.6 lakh cases are pending in High Courts, waiting for justice.
Sir, despite the 15% increase in tending to Supreme Court cases in the past four years, the Central Government’s decision to close down fast track courts and to cease to fund fast track courts is a blow to the state governments.
Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to the former Prime Minister and has also raised the matter with the Centre regularly.
Sir, following this order, the number of functioning fast track courts have been reduced by over 50% and by 2011, 1,734 fast track courts in the country had more or less wound up. After the Nirbhaya case, the Central Government said that the courts will continue till March 2015. However, there are fewer than 900 fast track courts in the country today. In Delhi, six fast track courts deal exclusively with cases of sexual assaults. As of now 1,374 cases are pending in these courts.
Sir, there are 258 vacancies for judges alone in the Supreme Court, along with 4,700 vacant judicial posts in the Supreme Court and the High Courts. These are fuelling the injustice already borne by the victims.
Sir, Calcutta High Court has registered a 19% decline over the past three years in pending court cases. Yet, several cases filed still await justice. A positive move in this direction will be to establish a Permanent Bench of the Supreme Court in Kolkata, which will bring much relief to the citizens in that part of the country. I urge the Government to take stringent, effective and immediate measures to address the situation, that is growing in magnitude. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
