NEW DELHI, 18 March 2007 — President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam yesterday called for urgent action to clear a huge backlog of criminal cases. “To deliver speedy criminal justice, it is essential to have a time bound mechanism for hearing, arguing, deciding including appeals of the cases. A law can be enacted prescribing an upper limit of time by which a criminal case has to be finally decided,” the president said.
In his opening address at the national seminar on “Delay in the Administration of Criminal Justice,” Kalam urged lawyers not to ignore ethics while trying to win their cases.
“Litigation should not be reduced to a mere trade at the cost of basic principles of ethics. This is an obligation that they (lawyers) owe to society and they must live up to it,” he said.
On witnesses turning hostile, Kalam said: “Such action should attract exemplary punishment as a crime against society.”
Underlining the need for people to be mobilized to change the system, Kalam said that people as “genuine societal reformers” from within the “political system, bureaucratic system, judicial system, police system and various other government and non-government agencies that wield power should be ready to expose the criminal process in power and ready to fight it and bring out a fundamental difference to the common man by effecting systemic change at all levels.”
Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said that fair and speedy trial would generate faith of the common man in criminal justice. He urged all states to allocate sufficient funds for modernization and computerization of courts. There would be failure of justice, if proper legal assistance is not provided to the poor, Balakrishnan said.
Minister for Law and Justice H.R. Bhardwaj called for a review criminal law. Delay in criminal trial, especially in subordinate courts is a matter of concern for all, Bhardwaj said. He emphasized the need to make the Criminal Procedural Code simpler and free it from complexities. Fast track courts and reconciliation methods can lead to speedy disposal of cases, he said.
With more than 18 million criminal cases pending in subordinate courts, Bhardwaj said there is need to increase the number of judges and also introduce new technology to help in delivering speedy justice. Pointing to the need for an efficient police force equipped with latest technology for investigation, Bhardwaj said: “We must renovate and innovate.”
