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Judiciary: Call in a management guru

H. Kaushal

A FEW MONTHS ago, the President spoke about justice in India being costly and attainable, only after a lot of delay. The Government's efforts to modify court procedures have been linked to the entry of foreign lawyers. The entire issue has been opposed b y members of the Bar nationwide.

The usual argument for the delay in disposal of cases is that there are a large of number of vacancies in the national judicial system. For the undue time taken to post judges, the Centre blames it on the clearance required from the Supreme Court/High Co urts for announcing the appointment of the judges.

The Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, has promised to address quickly the problem of judges. It is hoped the promised action will not spill beyond a couple of months as there is a huge backlog of cases at all levels.

The law-makers, aware of the situation, in the last decade, began setting time frames for the disposal of different types of cases. For instance, a leave and licence case for a residential accommodation should be adjudicated by the competent officer in s ix months;

The initial payment to victims of road accidents should be made in a month, and

A case involving a bounced cheque should be pursued on an urgent and day-to-day basis.

There are many who submit that the courts of competent authorities, in many places, have not been manned for months and that this system is not even applicable all over the country.

At many places, the arrangement of judges for these courts has been on ad hoc basis. It is unlikely that they would have attained six months for a leave and licence case in places. As for the kin of motor accident victims, they should be grateful if they receive the initial payment in six times the period laid down by law; the prevailing norm is 9-12 months.

Meanwhile, litigants of bounced cheques have formed an association in Mumbai. They have been making suggestions to expedite decisions in their cases. The Supreme Court has taken note of the problems of bounced cheque beneficiaries, and in a recent judgme nt, offered additional facilities regarding jurisdictions to aggrieved parties. But these have had little effect down the line.

Consider the situation of a litigant, fighting a bounced cheque case. He pleaded with the judge to fix the date of the subsequent hearing to be fixed for the following month and not the month thereafter. The learned judge snapped, ``You have filed the ca se only this year,'' obviously implying that the case would be adjudicated after a few years. The average citizen is, thus, afraid of approaching a court to solve his problems, even if he is in the right.

These are the feelings of the informed Indian citizen. Insiders lament the quality of selections to various posts. Standards have slowly but surely been slipping. The packages offered to judicial staff are, perhaps, satisfactory and adequate, but not des igned to attract the best. The legal system has also come up with many forms of malpractice. At many places, purchasing Rs. 10 or Rs. 20 stamp papers can be a herculean task. A lawyer could get these, but only if you engaged him in preparing the subseque nt documents.

However, the problem is rather widespread and speed has to be doled out at every level. Fortunately, the amounts are rather well defined. Many lawyers justify charging high fees because a part of it fee goes to pay these tips. The `tip mentality' often r eaches very high levels. The litigants, the truly aggrieved party, unfortunately can only watch helplessly the goings on.

There is also a need to delve deep, rather than scratch the surface. A study of the workings of a court would be very rewarding to a management consultant. Unfortunately, a meaningful and comprehensive analysis of the judicial procedures does not appear to have been done in India. A liberal management guru may place the efficiency level of different courts at 25 per cent.

Senior courts are aware of the problem and have to solve it by fixing a quota of cases for judges to clear every month. The measure is ad hoc and has resulted in easy cases and high visibility cases being cleared quickly.

A look at the steps involved in a bounced cheque case-- the beneficiary of the bounced cheque must follow a very strict calendar and confer legal notice to the drawer. The drawer has a specific period to reply, and thereafter, the beneficiary h as to approach the courts in 30 days.

These time spans are enforced strictly and a case could be lost if the number of days are exceeded. Normally all this should take 60-75 days, depending on how long it takes for the Postal Department to deliver the notices. However, the urgency is lost a soon as the papers are filed in the court. The receipt of the papers by the court's staff requires the presence of the applicant for a morning. These papers are then put to the judge, requiring a second visit by the petitioner.

The aggrieved party pays a third visit to record his statement, and verify the facts stated in the case papers. A fourth visit is required for the lawyer of the aggrieved party to present his arguments, and the fifth visit is for hearing the orders of th e judge for the issue of the summons to the cheque's drawer.

The issue and serving of the summons is itself a sorrowful tale, but the procedure thus far could at best be accomplished in six visits spanning that several months. The number/time could multiply if there are strikes, clerks or judges are not available or otherwise occupied, or the staff is not favourably disposed to the petitioner, or the papers are `misplaced.' An efficiency expert may manage to have all this done in one go!

Thus, it is essential that procedures and the general management of resources in the judicial system are streamlined. It is possible that judges, lawyers and litigants could feel better after spending their time in a more productive manner. Unscrupulous elements, or those who convert delays into cash, may resent the `interference' of management consultants. One needs to appreciate that the resources spent on developing procedures based on sound management principles will more than pay for themselves in a very short span.

So stand up and be counted as one of those wanting a management review of the judicial system.