Justice delayed is justice denied

Justice delayed is justice denied
The article ‘Verdict reserved: Delaying orders makes judiciary’s name ugly’ (January 9) by Rakesh Bhatnagar is lucid and based on fact. But who cares? What is the legal position on delivery of judgments/orders? Order 20, Rule 1 of Civil Procedure Code (CPC) mandates the court to deliver judgments within 30 days, and if not feasible, then at least within 60 days after conclusion of arguments. However, there is no fear of punishment among judges who do not comply with mandatory proviso Order 20, Rule 1 of CPC because judges are immunised for any action against them under Judges Protection Act, 1985. This needs to be repealed forthwith to make judges accountable if they do not deliver judgments as per law. The Constitution is silent on this aspect. The people’s faith becomes shaky in the prevailing judicial system where judges are not accountable for non-delivery of judgments after conclusion of final arguments as per mandatory provisions of Criminal Procedure Code and Civil Procedure Code. The remedy lies in making the judges accountable for allowing delay in hearing the  matter and causing delay in delivery of judgments after conclusion of arguments. Justice delayed is justice denied and this should be viewed seriously.
—KC Jaisinghani

Govt should act
This has reference to Yogesh Pawar’s ‘Is being ashamed going to save children?’ (January 13). There is no doubt that it’s a national shame as is termed by the prime minister. The primary question is when a problem of such magnitude is identified in clear terms then why does the government feel helpless to arrest the trend. Do we have only lip service to such horrifying instances of human loss when we have a food surplus situation? There are many lacunae in our system which allows siphoning off benefits meant for undernourished children. The government must plug these loopholes and come down heavily on those found guilty in pilfering aid and subsidies. It must make sure that no child dies due to malnutrition since the prime minister himself has taken cognizance of the problem. A nation which is aiming for 7% GDP growth should not have lopsided priorities and must put in all efforts to stop the death of 68 children daily due to malnutrition.
—Ashok Goswami

II
Surveys conducted in the past have shown that malnutrition among children is lowest in Kerala where literacy rate among women is the highest in the country. Malnutrition in the first five years of a child leads to serious, long-term consequences because it impedes motor, sensory, cognitive, social and emotional development. An educated mother not only understands the relevance of nutrition, she also practices hygiene and knows how to access health facilities. These issues stem in our social complexity; girls are more at risk of malnutrition than boys because of their lower social status. The government has to address this issue at several levels and do it fast.
—J Akshay

Don’t panic
Apropos of ‘Fears of a TDR-TB epidemic rise’ (January 12 ), the discovery of 12 cases of Totally Drug Resistant tuberculosis should not lead to panic reactions, especially in doctors. While the news is alarming from the point of view of current unavailability of treatment regimens for this new strain, the potential threat of an epidemic is much less than predicted. Microbacteria are opportunistic bacteria (both M tuberculosis and M leprae) and do not easily infect humans with good immune systems, generally attacking those who for any reason are immunologically compromised. Epidemics are caused by bacterial or viral agents that are highly infectious and capable of causing disease across the immunological spectrum. What is more urgent at this stage is to avoid scare-mongering and research both the failings in current strategies that allowed the emergence of a TDR strain as well as newer medications to counter it.
—Suren Abreu