Date:10/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/10/stories/2006091010870400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Justice at door-step with village courts

Special Correspondent

Justice will be brought to door-steps, says Union Minister

<232,0,100,100,30>LEGAL STEPS: Union Minister for Law and Justice H.R.Bhardwaj and Chief Justice G. S. Singhvi in Hyderabad on Saturday. — Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

HYDERABAD: The Union Law Ministry is considering a new tier of courts to take justice to the door-steps of people in rural areas.

The `grameena nyayalayas' (village courts) were planned on the lines of Munsif Magistrate courts which enjoyed dual powers of civil and criminal justice delivery, saidUnion Minister for Law and Justice, H.R. Bhardwaj. They would function like mobile courts.

Talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a regional workshop for para-legal workers organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) here on Saturday, Mr. Bhardwaj said the courts were proposed under a Centrally sponsored scheme. He would take up the proposal with the Union Cabinet. The objective of the institution was to mitigate legal problems of poor who found it difficult to travel to district courts.

At the workshop earlier to deliberate on the welfare of victims of trafficking and HIV/AIDS, the Minister felt that the legal aid service should fall in the domain of the bar. The judiciary would find it cumbersome to handle as it was already overburdened with litigation. Chief Justice of High Court G.S. Singhvi said the judiciary was keen to be part of the social integration process. Justice Bilal Nazki, Executive Chairman, State Legal Services Authority, Commercial Taxes and Law Minister, Konathala Ramakrishna, and Supreme Court judge and Executive Chairman of NLSA, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, also spoke.