Rs 7,000 cr for construction of subordinate courts: Moily

Chennai, Feb 15 (PTI) Union Law Minister Veerappa Moilytoday said the Centre would provide Rs 7,000 crore forconstruction of infrastructure in subordinate courts in thecountry.

"We have come up with a project which is going to theCabinet shortly. It has already been circulated to thePlanning Commission, which has agreed to it. We are providingRs 7,000 crore for construction of infrastructure insubordinate courts in the country," he said.

Moily was speaking after inaugurating a trainingprogramme for Public Prosecutors and Judicial Officers underthe aegis of the 13th Finance Commission Grant.

The Centre, he said, proposed to set up commercialbenches in 21 High Courts to deal with investment-related andother commercial cases, which would have to be disposed withina year.

"The bill is already before Parliament and will soon bepassed by it," Moily said.

Stating that India is lagging in InternationalArbitration compared to Singapore, Paris and London, he said acomprehensive amendment would be made in the Conciliation andArbitration Act, 1996 to make the country the most preferreddestination for arbitration and throw up more opportunitiesfor lawyers.

Moily said his top agenda was judicial reforms, withparticular focus on disposal of cases.

"When we found that average disposal of cases was 15years, we set a target that no case, by December 31, 2012, hasto be pending in any court beyond three years. It is a big''mission possible''. We just need the resources and manpowertechnology," he said.