STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: More than 62,000 cases are pending in different courts in Assam since the last 5 to 10 years. Due to this, the people have been deprived from justice on time and facing the regular harassment of visiting the courts frequently.
According to official records, up to March 2023, cases pending for more than 10 years are calculated to be 7411 in number, with a total of 55818 cases pending for more than five years in different courts in the state.
Among the cases pending for more than 10 years, the highest number is in Kamrup (Metro) district, with 2200 cases. The next highest is in Cachar district with 1545 cases. The lowest number of cases pending is in Dhemaji and Charaideo, with two each in the two districts.
For cases pending for five years or more, the district with the highest number is Kamrup (M) with 12846 cases, the next highest is Cachar with 6115 cases, while Barpeta has 3176 cases pending, Dhubri has 4183 cases, and Nagaon, which has 5974 cases.
Recently, the Supreme Court has directed the High Courts for ensuring speedy trials and to monitor the disposal of cases, especially those pending for more than five years.
According to a legal expert, there are various reasons for the delay in disposing of cases in courts. He said, “Non- availability of adequate number of judges and staff in courts, complexity of the cases to be tried, and the lack of process, nature of evidence, lapses by investigation agencies, non-availability of witnesses, manifold litigation etc.”
A senior advocate said, “There is intense pressure on judges as the number of cases to be tried is huge. There is a gap of more than one month before the next hearing can be scheduled. The reasons can be summed up as- a lack of prescribed timeframe by the respective courts for disposal of various kinds of cases, frequent adjournments, and a lack of adequate arrangement to monitor, track and bunch cases for hearing. So, it should be a priority of the government to increase the number of judges in courts so that such a situation can be overcome.”
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