Fast track courts?

Have you seen the award-winning Marathi satirical movie – Court? Our nomination for the Oscar, this movie in stark simplicity depicts the way our courts function and how cases drag on and on for years. Justice delayed is justice denied – we recently saw the standing example of this in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case.

Call it the effect of the movie or finally the Govt waking up to reality, the Maharashtra Govt has stated that there will be 219 new fast track courts in the state in 2016 of which 18 would be “temporary” to handle pending court cases. The fast-track courts would primarily attend to cases of heinous crimes like murder, rape and kidnapping.

But do we have enough judges to make the judgements? After all what is the use of a court if there is no Judge? As of now, Maharashtra has a total sanctioned strength of 1,988 judges of which 1,738 posts are filled. For the remaining posts, the government is in the process of issuing approvals for appointment. The “temporary” courts would be run by retired judges/contractual staff in rented premises for court buildings and a small flexi grant of Rs5 lakh per court per annum for operational costs will be granted until the pendency is brought under control.

Needless to day, this is a very positive step in the right direction. The rising rate of crime in the country will come down only if there is a fear of law and the legal punitive actions. Right now, it seems like a truly democratic country – free for all, even the guilty get off scot free. So we hope that justice is done and not a mockery of the entire judicial system....