As many as 60,752 cases are still pending in different High Courts in the Northeastern states.
Aware of the pending cases, the 14th Finance Commission has endorsed the proposal to strengthen the judicial system in states which includes, inter-alia, establishing 1800 Fast Track Courts (FTCs) for a period of five years for cases of heinous crimes across the country.
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The FTCs will also look into the cases involving senior citizens, women, children, disabled and litigants affected with HIV AIDS and other terminal ailments; and civil disputes involving land acquisition and property-rent disputes pending for more than five years, at a cost of Rs.4144 crore.
This was informed by Minister of State for Law and Justice and Corporate Affairs PP Chaudhary in the parliament recently.
According to the government statistics there are 39,717 pending cases in Gauhati High Court, 16,955 cases are pending in High Court of Manipur, 2,894 cases in the High Court of Tripura, 971 cases in the High Court of Meghalaya and 215 cases in the High Court of Sikkim.
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The establishment of Fast Track Courts at district level is within the domain of the State Governments as per their need and resources.
The 14th Finance Commission has urged State Governments to use the additional fiscal space provided by the Commission in the tax devolution to meet such requirements.
As per information available, 55,459 cases are pending in the Supreme Court and 41.84 lakh cases are pending in various High Courts.
“The primary responsibility for development of infrastructural facilities for judiciary in the states including High Courts rests with the State Governments. The Central Government augments the resources of the State Governments by releasing financial assistance under a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for the development of infrastructure facilities for Judiciary,” Chaudhary said while replying to a question raised by BJP MP from Assam Ramen Deka.
A sum of Rs 6,020 crore has been released since 1993-94, out of which Rs. 2,575 crore (42.77 percent) has been released since April, 2014.
As many as 17,798 Court Halls and 13,759 Residential Accommodations have been made available for Judicial Officers of District and Subordinate Courts as on date. Out of this 1,980 Court Halls and 3,548 Residential Accommodations were constructed since 2014 to till date. In addition, 2,966 Court Halls and 1,692 Residential Accommodations are under construction.