REFUGEE

(From left) Chief Justice of the Madras High Court H.L. Gokhale, Law Minister Durai Murugan, Supreme Court Judges P. Sathasivam and R.V. Raveendran, at a function in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Law Minister Durai Murugan requested the judiciary to make efforts to reduce the backlog of cases piled up in various courts in the State and said that the government had taken a series of steps to help improve facilities for the judiciary.

“The total number of cases pending in the Madras High Court, its Bench at Madurai and subordinate courts in Tamil Nadu at the end of 2008 was 14.68 lakh. Now the pendency will be much more. Efforts should be made to reduce it,” he said at the valedictory of the South Zone Regional Judicial Conference on the theme ‘Enhancing Timely Justice: Strengthening Criminal Justice,’ organised by the Madras High Court, National Judicial Academy, Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy and Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority.

Mr. Murugan said that the State government had spent Rs.306 crore for the establishment of new courts and construction of combined court/quarters building for judicial officers from 2006-07 till 2008-09 and they would continue to give importance to allocating adequate funds for infrastructure to all levels of judiciary in the State.

To provide timely justice to victims, Supreme Court Judge R.V. Raveendran on Sunday suggested several measures, such as conducting continuous trial on day-to-day basis, and asked the judicial officers not to take up ‘light cases.’

“Let’s us go back to those days. Continuous trial will have a saluting effect and result”, he said. “We need the cooperation of police and investigating agencies. Police should provide the witness. This will be the first step towards providing timely justice.”

He also asked the judges not to turn away witnesses but to deal them with courteously. “They are not criminals. Make some effort. But don’t send them away as some of them have to apply for a day’s leave. If they are not treated properly, they will not have faith in the system,” he said. Concern should be shown to the poor, needy and downtrodden. He also emphasised the role of the Bar in reducing the pendency of cases.

Supreme Court Judge P. Sathasivam said that judicial officers should be careful while dealing with matrimonial offences, offences against women, children and persons with disability.

He asked the participants to be thorough with statutory powers, recent cases of medical negligence, results of scientific investigations, new types of investigations and new types of offences to deliver justice to victims in sensitive cases.

The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, H.L. Gokhale; Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy president V. Dhanapalan; and Judges of Madras High Court D. Murugesan and M. Sathyanarayanan were among those who highlighted aspects of jurisprudence at the valedictory session.