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Vidhi centre for legal policy hosted a panel on discussion on topic “Roots of Prosperity Policy priorities for the first hundred days which saw an engaging exchange between Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice”. The panel included Justice Gita Mittal (chief justice, High Court Jammu and Kashmir), Shri Ram Sewak Sharma (chairman telecom regulatory authority of India) and Dr. Ratan Roy (director National institute of public finance and policy) on the critical issues facing India's justice system, its economy and its technology sector.
While speaking about the key reforms for judicial system in India justice Mittal stated,
"In the system here, they were very short on empiricals. They also begin planning, do planning without empiricals. They didn’t stop at impact assessment of just legislation being a Chief Justices, they do roster allocation, they only look at the number of cases, but not the type of cases, infrastructure, competency of judges, skills needed for certain types of cases. They need to look at figures, the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of judicial dispensation. Also, they need to link the judicial side with the administrative side, so far as manpower and skills are concerned"
Further added, "Not just the enforceability of the law, but hard realities has to be kept in mind. When there are bullock carts on the national highway from Delhi to Jaipur, we can't say no to two and three-wheelers. There may be separate lanes for them. Lowering the age to 16 years (for trial as an adult) in case of grievous offences is an unmindful exercise to my mind. They need to have a basis to legislate."
Also, "J & K was starved for legislation and the Governor's Rule brought some 55 laws. There is the Family Courts Act, the Commercial Courts Act, but where is the impact assessment? It has just been said that cases above Rs. 3 lakhs would go to commercial courts, but what about staff strength? The number of judges needed? We can't expect a person from Bhadarwah or Ladakh to come and get their case transferred... Similarly, for Family Courts, you need counselors, creche, meeting rooms"
While speaking she regretted the phenomenon of the linking of the access to justice with access to courts and stated in that connection, "Courts are the last resort of people, all remaining barriers to understand justice and rights- physical, financial, knowledge-based- have to be removed to ensure access to justice." She added, "There is no talk of infrastructure at all. In J & K, also she is struggling to design courtrooms. What should be the size of the court of the Chief Justice, that of a division bench, of a single judge? What does a district court that has a District Judge, S-judges, Munsiffs, need? She is struggling to find this information.”
Later she congratulated Vidhi for their contribution in making the case categorization in J & K legible, “Vidhi had 340 nomenclatures and the cause-list was mind-boggling. A single application was punctuated by 15 alphabets. The nomenclatures have now been brought down to 40 with their help. "
Justice Mittal also mentioned the technology initiatives to make better to an extent the handicap of people in the remote areas in J & K who are cut off from the mainland for 8-9 months in a year owing to snow and avalanches by stating, "No one can't be cut off from enforcing their rights because of snow. They identified those areas and have incorporated in the rules the filing of templates of complaints and plaints. Filing can be done by fax, email through post offices and community service centres and paralegal volunteers facilitate hearings through technological means. There is an initiative of 'insaf-ki-dastak' which utilizes cam-calls. Nowhere else in the world is there such use of technology."
She spoke regarding the Vulnerable Victims Deposition Complexes envisioned in Delhi for the benefit of victims of sexual violence "To have them testify in courtrooms is secondary traumatisation that happens before the eyes of a judge. In these complexes, there is no interface between the testator and the perpetrator. They are facilitated from their homes to the complex. There is a one-way looking glass through which the judge can see but the victim can't. More than 6000 victims have deposed in this manner since 2012."
She emphasized on the need for Witness Assistance Rooms in courts, "Witnesses are the eyes and ears of the courts but they are lost when they come to the court. There have been instances where the witness ends up meeting the opposite side. The defendant side tells them, 'Now that you have shown me this, you can go' and then there is no plaintiff witness at trial."
"In J & K, the linkage between courts and jails is very important. Trials tend to get prolonged because of the challenges of terrain etc. In case of very serious offenders, now video conferencing is being used, because of digital signatures, certified copies can now be delivered at the doorstep. With the cause-lists being digital, they are saving paper in the J & K High Court, there are two benches, one at Jammu and the other at Srinagar. Sometimes, one judge is here, the other there and the lawyer could be at either place and hence video conferencing facilitates hearings. Sharing her personal incident she stated, “I have a fractured leg and my movement is restricted. I am able to conduct hearings from my living room. Otherwise, I would have had to take medical leave for 6 weeks.”
As for the vacancies in the subordinate judiciary and the delays in recruitment, Justice Mittal explained, “Entry-level judges come through a written examination, while at the district-judge level, recruitment take place from among lawyers and by way of promotion. When they had the last examination in J & K for the bar, not a single lawyer qualified. In Punjab & Haryana, only 7% qualified and the matter is now in the Supreme Court. The rule is that if these seats don't succeed twice in getting filled, they are transferred to the promotee quota and then sub-judges are selected for the post. There are no delays as far as promotions are concerned. Besides, every HC conducts its own exams so the debate is on as to whether there should be centralized recruitment these are the reasons for delay.”
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