Fast Track Courts Do Work Supreme Court’s rejection of a proposal to fast track criminal cases against MPs – albeit while asking for an alternative plan to speed up the entire criminal justice system – has disappointed many advocates of judicial reform, including this writer. Of course the entire judicial machinery needs speeding up, but more on that shortly. It is crucial to recognise that expediting the adjudication of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs is not a favour to them, but rather to society as a whole. It has been estimated that if the entire judiciary could be unclogged, if cases could be decided quickly and predictably, India’s GDP growth rate would see a very significant 2% per annum increase. One of the most startling statistics that explain the logjam is the ratio of judges to population. India has only 13 judges per million citizens, in comparison with a minimum of 50 in most developed countries – 51 in the UK and 125 in the US. As far back as 1987, the Law Commission had recommended raising India’s judges to population ratio to 50 per million by the year 2000, but little has been done. The reasons become obvious with some quick, back of the envelope number crunching. The resilience of the world’s largest democracy would be compromised if its inability to deliver justice to all, swiftly, continues for much longer. Fast tracking two kinds of cases – crimes against women and criminal charges against elected representatives – would be just such a solution, with widespread positive impact on society and the integrity of our democracy. Fast track courts were first introduced a dozen years ago, with central funding. Despite some criticism, they had notched up a stellar track record, disposing 85% of the cases listed by 2011. Ironically, that was when central funding was discontinued. But some states have kept fast track courts functional with their own funds, and a few have even added more. Of course fast track courts cannot function in isolation and other complementary steps need to be taken, such as police reforms and the appointment of independent prosecutors. Some of these steps do not require any significant funding increase. But they do need political will. Finally, even a determined prime minister, who has publicly embraced the idea of fast tracking criminal cases against MPs and has reportedly asked the law ministry to devise a mechanism for this, is still only one half of the equation. How do you square the circle and get the Supreme Court on board? According to a legal luminary with insight into the court’s thinking, one way could be for the government to propose several new fast track courts, with say 20% of them dedicated to MPs’ and MLAs’ criminal cases. Continue: epaperbeta.timesofindia//Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Fast-Track-Courts-Do-Work-06082014022032
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 01:30:00 +0000
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