Capt orders creation of 7 new village courts

CHANDIGARH: To provide expeditious justice in rural areas in compliance with the directives of the Punjab and Haryana high court, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered the establishment of seven gram nyayalayas or village courts in the state.

They are to be set up at Patran in Patiala district; Tapa in Bathinda, Bassi Pathana (Fatehgarh Sahib), Dera Baba Nanak and Dhar Kalan (Gurdaspur), Raikot (Ludhiana) and Chamkaur Sahib (Rupnagar). These will cover only the gram panchayats of the sub-divisions and not towns, as per the proposal that has been cleared by the CM, who also holds the home affairs and justice portfolio.

With this, the number of such courts in the state will go up to nine, as two gram nyayalayas - at Kot Isse Khan (Moga) and Nangal (Rupnagar) were set up in January 2013.

The initiative has been undertaken as per Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, enacted by Parliament for quick dispensation of justice in the rural areas. A spokesperson said from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, not a single case was transferred to the Gram Nyayalaya in Kot Isse Khan, while the number of cases instituted during this period were two. In this period, 13 cases were disposed of and 18 were pending as on December 31, 2016, at the Kot Isse Khan court.

The Nangal Gram Nyayalaya, however, accounted for zero case on these parameters in the corresponding period.

From January to December 2017, for Kot Isse Khan Gram Nyayalaya, there were no cases transferred and those instituted were eight. Total 18 cases were disposed and 10 were pending as on December 31, 2017.