Projected pendency of 45mn cases in India an overstatement: CJI
NEW DELHI: The projected statistics that pendency in Indian courts has reached 45 million cases, which is perceived as the inability of the Indian judiciary to cope with the caseload, is an “overstatement” and an “uncharitable analysis” and one of the factors contributing to judicial delays is “luxurious litigation”, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said on Saturday.
He said conflicts are unavoidable in any society for various reasons, including political, economic, social, cultural and religious, and there is a need to develop mechanisms for conflict resolution and referred to the Mahabharata, providing an example of an early attempt at mediation as a conflict resolution tool.
Mediation is deeply embedded into the Indian ethos and was prevalent before the British adversarial system in India, various forms of mediation were being practised as a method of dispute resolution, he said.
Delivering his keynote address at the India-Singapore Mediation Summit “Making Mediation mainstream: Reflections from India and Singapore”, Justice Ramana said many Asian countries have a long and rich tradition of collaborative and amicable settlement of disputes.
“The great Indian epic, the Mahabharata, actually provides an example of an early attempt at mediation as a conflict resolution tool, where Lord Krishna attempted to mediate the dispute between the Pandavas and Kauravas. It may be worthwhile to recall that the failure of mediation led to disastrous consequences,” he said.
He said there are a few contributing factors that have revived the Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms in India and one of them is related to judicial delays. “The oftenquoted statistic that ‘pendency’ in Indian courts has reached 45 million cases, which is perceived as the inability of the Indian judiciary to cope with the caseload. This is an overstatement and an uncharitable analysis.