New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal harp on ‘Tarikh par Tarikh’ culture

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday echoed for finding a solution for the practice of deferment of court cases and to break the common perception of "Tarikh par Tarikh" culture regarding the justice system. In the meantime, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that they have skilfully laid out an action plan for reducing case pendency through case management.

In her valedictory address at the National Conference of the District Judiciary to mark 75 years of the Supreme Court of India, President Murmu mentioned the black coat syndrome that poor people in rural India face due to several barriers in accessing justice.

She mentioned the rural people, who were hesitant to go to court and quietly bear injustice and said that such things happened because these poor people think fighting for justice would make their lives more difficult and also cause financial burdens on them by visiting courts.

Drawing lines parallel to white coat hypertension, President Murmu appealed for a study on black coat syndrome based on the facts and said that people's hesitancy with the judicial system can be referred to as black coat syndrome.

She also appealed to work and found solutions for the "Tarikh par Tarikh" culture. A similar opinion was also expressed by law minister Meghwal, who said, "It is the collective responsibility of all of us present in this ceremony at Bharat Mandapam today to come out with a pledge to break the common perception of 'Tarikh par Tarikh' culture regarding the justice system."

Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, who addressed the two-day National Conference of District Judiciary at Bharat Mandapam, spoke on the action plan for reducing case pendency through case management.

"The Committee on Reducing Arrears of Cases has skilfully laid out an action plan for reducing case pendency through case management. The three stages of the action plan include first the preparatory stage of forming district-level case management committees to identify target cases, undated cases and reconstruction of records. The ongoing second stage aims to resolve cases that have been pending before the courts for 10 to 20 years, 20 to 30 years and more than 30 years. Third, from January to June 2025, the judiciary shall execute the third phase of clearing the backlogs of cases pending for over a decade in courts. This effort requires an intricate coordination of various applications and data management systems to plan and track our strategies. Some of the other strategies for dealing with the backlog include pre-litigation dispute resolution. The Supreme Court of India recently concluded its first-ever National Lok Adalat, at which almost 1,000 cases were disposed of amicably within 5 working days," CJI Chandrachud said.

CJI Chandrachud further said, "We must, without any question, change the fact that only 6.7 percent of our court infrastructure at the district level is female-friendly. Is this acceptable today in a nation where, at the basic level of recruitment in some states, over 60 percent or 70 percent of the recruits are women? Our focus areas are increasing accessibility measures, which can be understood by carrying out infrastructural audits. Opening in-court medical facilities, creches and technological projects like e-seva Kendras and video conferencing devices, etc. can be done. Axiomatically, we must also ensure that our courts provide a safe and accommodating environment for all members of our society, particularly for groups such as women and other vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and people across the socio-economic landscape. With the increasing number of women coming into the judiciary, we must also confront the biases which we may unwittingly have towards our colleagues at the bar and the bench."

On the occasion, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, "I am sure that these suggestions incorporating these will not only be of great help to the people of the judicial fraternity but will also pave the way for ease of living for the citizens of the country through ease of justice. It is the collective responsibility of all of us present in this ceremony at Bharat Mandapam today to come out with a pledge to break the common perception of 'Tarikh par Tarikh' culture regarding the justice system."

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