Nationwide yatra against judicial backlog from Jan 30

New Delhi, Jan 28: Deploring the "inordinately large" backlog of cases, an organisation advocating the cause of judicial reforms has decided to launch a country-wide march to sensitise people about the urgent need for it. Activists of the 'Forum For Fast Justice', a Mumbai-based trust, will begin the 35-day-long 'Nyay Yatra' on January 30.

The campaign is premised on the stand that "justice delayed is justice denied", said Raj Kachroo, the founder of a nationwide anti-ragging movement, who is also associated with the proposed march. Kachroo wondered why the 'National Mission for Judicial Reform' project, that was taken up in 2009, has been "shelved".

"After extensive consultations involving the then prime minister and Chief Justice of India, among others, a blueprint for judicial reforms was prepared aimed at time-bound redressal and efficient functioning of courts.

But no step has been taken on that front," he said today at a news conference here. Bhagvanji Raiyani, the Chairman of the trust, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "silent" about the cause as "one-third" of the MPs face criminal charges.

Beginning at Rajghat here, the yatra, which is to feature four-wheelers, will cover 170 districts as well as major towns across 22 states. It will conclude on March 4 at Jantar Mantar.

"We believe a simple thing like audit recording of court proceedings can considerably improve the quality of judgements. We see no reason why this cannot be done without any delay," the forum said.

Kachroo added that blaming the pendency of cases on the paucity of judges does not hold water as the situation in Delhi is "no better" than the national average despite the city having a large number of judges. "In fact, the pendency rates have doubled in Delhi over the years," Kachroo said.

PTI