Justice delayed is justice denied
Courts in our country continue to struggle with a huge backlog of cases. And many cases filed under some special laws involving rape and torture of women and children, murder, extortion, corruption and narcotics too are not being settled according to the relevant provisions for a speedy completion of the trials.
As of March 31 this year, a total of 1,64,551 cases under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act-2000 have been pending with courts across the country. And 1,64,794 narcotics-related cases and 17,25,270 criminal cases were pending with the lower courts. According to the special provisions under which they were filed, all these cases were supposed to be disposed of way earlier—years ago, in fact, in most cases—despite several High Court directives giving time limits to the lower courts concerned to end the trials.
Also, as of March 31 this year, a total of 35,82,347 cases, including criminal, have been pending with courts including the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court. And we understand that many of them have been stalling because law enforcers have not submitted their investigation reports, which they are duty-bound to do in 90 days, or because witnesses did not appear in the courts. That, however, does not change the fact that justice has been denied to all involved in these cases—litigants and complainants—and that such delays completely defeat the purpose of the provisions for speedy completion of trials.
These cases are tremendously important, particularly those concerning repression of women and children, and it is extremely disappointing that so many of them have been left hanging for years on end, without being resolved. Unfortunately, when it comes to law enforcers not moving fast enough to assist courts to quickly settle cases, lawmakers have not formulated any provisions that could be used to take action against them.
Lawmakers should change this and ensure that law enforcers can be held to account for not submitting investigation reports on time. The various issues that are slowing down the quick dispensation of cases, despite their complicated nature, must be solved in the interest of justice.
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