Fast-tracking cases cuts courts’ burden

Surat: Persistent efforts by the judiciary have helped bring down the pendency of cases in Surat district and sessions courts from 2.59 lakh in 2015 to just 1.1 lakh. Interestingly, during the same period, over 2.76 lakh cases were admitted in the court. Figures show that since 2015 over 4 lakh cases were disposed of by different courts in Surat district.
When principal district Judge Gita Gopi was posted at Surat district and sessions court in August 2015, the pendency was 2.59 lakh which has come down to 1.1 lakh cases by the beginning of this month thanks mainly to equal distribution of cases among courts. Different courts were given specific police stations for ease of functioning for police as well as the judiciary, with the latter putting emphasis on taking up for hearing pending land acquisition, prohibition and Negotiable Instruments Act cases first.

Besides, the courts focused on taking maximum advantage of the latest technologies for benefit of people. Thus, the courtrooms are now equipped with screen viewing facility which allows advocates to see their submissions being recorded by the officials.

The project to display National Legal Services Authority’s (Nalsa) announcements on television screens was started in the courts of Surat before it was implemented in other courts of the state. The video-conferencing facility between a jail inmate at Lajpore Central Jail and a panel lawyer provided by the court has started.

The project to track cases linked with police stations, particularly serving of summons, has also been introduced in the recent past. This too was later implemented in other courts by Gujarat high court. Computerization of criminal case register, bail application register and record room has been carried out in the recent past together with development of a software for preparing of results of cases before the Lok Adalats.