Mumbai courts give fast-track reply to pending cases

The sessions court in Mumbai has gone full throttle to reduce the number of pending cases even as Union law minister M Veerappa Moily’s plans to rev up the judicial system to cut down the huge backlog of cases is still to gain momentum.

The number of pending cases at the Kala Ghoda sessions court and the Sewree fast track court that stood at 7,030 in 2006 was down to 4,788 by 2009. In January 2010, the backlog went down by another 1,000 cases.

In the sessions court, cases barely a year old are being decided. For instance, on February 4, one Rabi Bhumji, 41, was sentenced to life for killing one Sukhdev Sahani on February 27, 2009. The court took barely seven months to decide after the charge sheet was filed in May. This was unheard of earlier.

A senior officer in sessions court said, “Earlier, charge sheets would lie in the sessions department for years. Now, at the Sewree court, judges finish cases in 4-5 days’ time.”

The feat could be attributed to there being more courts now. In fact, the achievement adds weight to chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan’s argument that the country needs more courts to clear the backlog of 3.5 crore cases. The CJI has been advocating setting up of 10,000 additional courts.

In Mumbai, the Sewree fast track court that was set up in October 2003 and the Dindoshi court, set up in 2007 have helped matters. The reduction of pendency in cases has obvious advantages. “The memory of the witness is fresh. It’s easier for police to trace them too,” said additional public prosecutor, J V Kenjalkar.

“It works for everyone - witnesses, police, lawyers and judges,” said Rohini Salian, general secretary of the city civil and sessions court bar association.