An S.C. Bench for the South - II

By K. Subramanian

MAHATMA GANDHI had once said, in obvious anguish, ``law has become the luxury of the rich and the joy of the gambler.'' What he had actually meant was that access to justice should be equal for both the rich and the poor.

The nation has advanced in many spheres since the days of the Mahatma, but sadly we have not been able to take the law any closer to the poor. Access to justice has been recognised as one of the most important human rights, which is included in Article 39(A) of the Constitution as a Directive Principle of State Policy.

Today the Supreme Court is faced with the problem of workload. In a truly democratic country like ours, to solve the problem of arrears of cases pending in courts, the solution is not to deny justice to the people but to expand the judicial system in various ways so as to keep pace with the growth of litigation. In this context, the following observation of the Law Commission of India in its 125th report on ``The Supreme Court - A Fresh Look'' is significant:

``The Supreme Court sits at Delhi alone. Government of India on a couple of occasions sought the opinion of the Supreme Court of India for setting up a Bench in the south. This proposal did not find favour with the Supreme Court. The result is that those coming from distant places like Tamil Nadu in the south, Gujarat in the west and Assam and other States in the east have to spend huge amount on travel to reach the Supreme Court. There is a practice of bringing one's own lawyer who has handled the matter in the High Court to the Supreme Court. That adds to the cost. And an adjournment becomes prohibitive. Adjournment is a recurrent phenomenon in the Court.''

Establishing Regional Benches of the Supreme Court, with appropriate increase in the number of judges manning them, will lead to a drastic reduction in the arrears now weighing upon the apex court, thereby ensuring early dispensation of justice to even an ordinary litigant, at a manageable cost.

In this context, the words of wisdom from the present Chief Justice of India, Dr. A. S. Anand, may be recalled as appropriate here: `Failure of judiciary to deliver justice within a time- frame has brought about a sense of frustration amongst the litigants. Human hope has its limits and waiting for too long in the current lifestyle is not possible. Some feel that the judicial system has shown appearances of cracks and fatigue but I am an optimist and do not share the view that the judicial system has collapsed or is fast collapsing,'' he said in his address at the All-India Seminar on Judicial Reform organised by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association in December 1998.

During the consideration of the Demands for Grants (1999-2000), the Standing Committee on Home Affairs was informed that the Governments of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had also suggested that a Supreme Court Bench be established in the respective State capitals for South India. The Chief Minister of Tripura, in August 1983, had requested the then Union Law Minister for acceptance of the resolution passed by the Bar Association, High Court of Calcutta, seeking establishment of a Bench at Calcutta. The Law Ministers of eastern and north-eastern States adopted a resolution unanimously at their meeting on October 4, 1996 in Calcutta which said it is essential for the Supreme Court to sit at a suitable place in their region to promote equal opportunity to all. The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs in its 56th report (1999), recommended setting up Benches in southern, western and north-eastern parts of the country.

In the action-taken reply and subsequent communication, the Government said the Chief Justice of India had intimated that a full Court meeting of Judges of the Supreme Court discussed the matter on December 15, 1999 and opposed the setting up of Benches outside Delhi since it would affect the structural and financial integrity of the institution.

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in its 61st Report on the Demands for Grants (2000-2001) of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs (presented to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on April 19, 2000) was not convinced with the reason given and reiterated its recommendations (vide in its 56th report) for setting up of Benches so that the people of farflung areas get easy access to the apex court. The committee also urged the Government to again take up the matter with the Chief Justice of India.

The common man is now reeling under the impact of hike in prices of almost all commodities and services, and the fares for train and air travel are no exception. Consequently, a litigant in South India would have to spend considerable amount of money to undertake the journey to Delhi for filing his case in the Supreme Court.

Today a poor litigant will not dare go before the apex court - not because his case is not good enough, but because he cannot afford it. In other words, a rich litigant has the benefit of the appellate forum while his poor cousin does not, even with a stronger case. The Government is under an obligation to provide an adequate machinery for justice, to appoint more Judges and give better emoluments and facilities.

In view of the alarming escalation of transport fare, lodging expenses and in view of the geographical location of the seat of the apex court, it is hoped that the Supreme court will reconsider its stand by suggesting ways and means for maintaining structural and financial integrity of the apex court even while setting up the southern, western and north-eastern Benches. However, it is for the Union Government and in particular, the Ministry of Law & Justice to again take up the matter with the Chief Justice of India and his companion judges in the larger interest of the litigant public.

When the Supreme Court was inaugurated on January 28, 1950 in the Prince's Chamber at New Delhi, the then Chief Justice of India Sir Harilal J. Kania had said: ``The people of India have established by their choice the Supreme Court as the final Court of appeal for its people. It is the final stage of the complete independence of the judicial system of the country.'' He closed his speech with a message from the Lord Chancellor of England, which read as follows:

``It is satisfactory to think that notwithstanding all the difficulties of the day, we are all determined to maintain and strengthen the rule of law, and I feel quite confident that the Supreme Court of India will prove an effective instrument for this end.'' One hopes that the apex court will devise ways and means of overcoming whatever difficulties that might crop up in setting up the Regional Benches so as to extend its benevolent arm of law to the poorest of poor litigants across the country.

(Concluded)

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