The number of unresolved cases is troubling. One of the causes for the massive growth in the number of pending cases in High Courts is the failure to fill judge vacancies in a timely manner. There are now about 100 such positions. All of the delays, lack of accountability, and half-baked ideas make the fundamental right to a swift trial a daily farce. “A timely trial is essential to criminal justice, and there can be no doubt that the delay in trial by itself constitutes denial of justice,” stated the Supreme Court.

Even if Art. 21 is not invoked, the constitutional need for prompt justice is unavoidable. The state is obligated to provide social, economic, and political justice to all of its residents, according to the Constitution’s preamble. According to the Directive Principles of State Policy, the state should strive towards a social order in which fairness is reflected in all aspects of national life.

For a long time, the adequacy of both special fast track courts and conventional fast track courts in providing justice to the residents of this country has been questioned. Only 107 cases have been resolved out of 623 cases assigned to the special fast track courts since their inception, with only 18 cases resulting in convictions. In India, there are around 1192 fast track courts with a total of 6, 05,813 pending cases. The Fast-Track Court concept called for the appointment of ad-hoc judges from among the retiring session or additional session judges for a period of two years. The High Courts will make the judges’ decision, and the Center has also issued instructions to the state governments to renew the possibilities that may arise as a result of ad-hoc promotions through a special drive retirement.

Currently, there are over three crore lawsuits outstanding in Indian courts. In the next thirty years, the clamor for speedy justice will be quieter, according to a reasonable judicial prediction that case pendency will increase by five times to reach 15 crores, while judicial strength will only increase by a few times to settle at 75,000. Currently, over 19,000 judges, including 18,000 for trial courts, are overseeing a backlog of 3 crore cases, resulting in a civil case that has been pending for nearly 15 years and proving the saying “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Whether Fast Track Courts can be considered as the long-term fate of the Indian justice system remains an open subject, given the challenges it faced when implemented in the first place. As previously stated, the number of cases pending in Indian courts is unimaginable, and in light of this, the effective establishment and operation of Fast Track Courts is of critical importance in providing the Indian judiciary with the opportunity to reduce the number of pending cases.

Fast-track courts, with the help of genuine funding from the central government and familiarity with proper legislation to address all of their concerns and keep a check on their operations, can have a significant impact on the country’s justice system. Access to prompt and appropriate justice is a fundamental right of the residents of this country, and it is the government’s responsibility to take steps to educate new components with the idea of a Fast-Track Court and to make justice accessible to ordinary citizens.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.

We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge