COVID situation is leading to further delay in resolving pending cases

GUWAHATI: The corona pandemic situation is leading to further delay in resolving the pending cases in not only the Gauhati High Court but also the other lower Courts in the State.

In the past six months during the pandemic, there were only a few virtual hearings in the Gauhati High Court. However, virtual hearing is still a non-starter in the lower Courts. The reason is that a large number of such Courts are technologically backward.

Official statistics vividly depict the serious problem of pending Court cases in the State. Government's records put the number of pending cases in the Gauhati High Court till August this year at 50,177 with the following breakup: civil cases (40,166) and criminal cases (10,011). Official records put the pending cases in the lower Courts across the State at 3.32 lakh — including 2.55 lakh criminal cases till August this year.

Besides, when the corona situation will ease and pave the way for justice delivery is still uncertain.

There are many reasons behind the increasing number of cases pending in various Courts in the State. Mention may be made of the following few main ones: The lopsided judge-case ratio is putting up hurdles in the prompt disposal of cases by the overburdened judges; (ii) the Gauhati High Court having jurisdiction over five other States of the Northeast, besides Assam; (iii) failure on the part of the government (that is party to many cases) to file affidavits on time; (iv) the government failing to produce witnesses at the Courts on time even after the Courts issuing summons to witnesses.

After the outbreak of COVID-19, the situation has taken a turn for the worse. In virtual hearings, witnesses are not in the scene, and the deliberation is between the lawyers and the judge. In the absence of witnesses in the scene, the situation seems to be a perfect recipe for more delay in the disposal of cases. Thus, the legal maxim of 'Justice delayed is justice denied' is likely to have its worst impact on justice seekers.

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