Call to ease burden on courts

CHENNAI:  Supreme Court judge and National Legal Services Authority executive chairman Altamas Kabir on Saturday laid the foundation stone for building of a centre for Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) at the Madras High Court premises.The four-storey building, to be constructed in an area of 20,344 sq ft, would cost Rs 4.30 crore. While the 13th Finance Commission sanctioned Rs1 crore each to 30 judicial districts in the State, the TN government sanctioned an additional Rs 3.20 crore for the construction of the centre at Chennai. It will be a model for all states in the country.Kabir said the ADR system would do wonders if effectively implemented. “To make it work, we have to sensitise ourselves, the legal fraternity and the litigant public,’’ he said adding that the huge pendency of cases could be reduced to a great extent, if the cases were settled out of court through arbitration, conciliation and mediation at Lok Adalats.He cited Madhya Pradesh where as many as 6.79 lakh disputes were disposed of in a day at a Lok Adalat. Similarly, in Karnataka 1.27 cases were settled in one sitting of the Lok Adalat. The ADR system, to be implemented in 650 judicial districts in the country at a cost of `650 crore, would eliminate the appeal procedure and save money and time, he said.Another Supreme Court judge P Sathasivam said that there were many reasons for backlog of cases in the regular courts. Increase in population (121.94 crore as on March 31, 2011), lack of adequate courts and judges, lack of ministerial staff and infrastructure and snail space of introducing modern techniques, including computerisation, socio-economic growth, more awareness of rights and faith in the judiciary, were some of the reasons. It was the duty of the advocates to persuade the litigant public to opt for ADR, he said and pointed out in other countries where the ADR was being extensively used, the success rate was 75 to 80 per cent.Madras High Court Chief Justice MY Eqbal, in his presidential address, said, speed, finality, affordbility and justice were the four key elements of ADR. The Legal Services Authority had achieved settlement of a whopping 5.20 lakh cases at 52,006 sittings and awarded more than Rs 2.313 crore as compensation since inception in 1986, Eqbal pointed out.Justice Elipe Dharma Rao, also the executive chairman of the TNSLSA,thanked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for extending her fullest co-operation to the judiciary. State Law Minister G Senthamizhan listed the achievements of Jayalalithaa during her earlier stint as Chief Minister, in the judiciary. Others who offered felicitations included justices D Murugesan, C Nagppan, P Jyothimani and R Banumathi.