Ghanahatti to have national law varsity

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 24

The government has decided to open national law university near Ghanahatti in Shimla jointly with the High Court.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said this in his inaugural address at the three-day Regional Judicial Conference of North Zone States on “Strengthening Justice Delivery System: Tools and Techniques”, here today. He said the university would be set on a vast expanse of land up adjacent to the State Judicial Academy.

He said law students must be imparted the world-class education to prepare them to serve the justice delivery system in the best possible way. “The construction of the state-of-the-art Judicial Academy in Shimla was also being undertaken to ensure constant upgrade of knowledge of judicial officers which will go a long way in strengthening the justice delivery system,” he said.

“I am happy to learn that the percentage of 5-year-plus cases in the subordinate courts in Himachal has fallen below 8 per cent,” said the Chief Minister. There was requirement for case-specific time-tables which were adopted to meet this object of individualised timely justice, he added.

“There is no denying that the Judiciary has performed well but is under tremendous strain due to huge pendency and delay in disposal of cases which is a cause for concern,” he said. Denial of timely justice amounts to denial of justice and timely disposal of cases was essential, he said.

Chief Justice of High Court Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir thanked the government for considering its proposal for opening Law University in Shimla, the land for which had been identified. He said the judiciary in Himachal Pradesh was one of the best as reported in the 245th Law Commission of India report. He said this year, the High Court had disposed of 28,000 cases and the pendency brought down to 36,000.

Revenue and Law Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said there was a time when the cases kept pending in the courts for years together, but with the adoption of the latest technology, the pendency had been reduced to minimum. “Even though the number of courts had increased, still there was huge pendency for which the judiciary needs to do some soul searching so that remedial measures can be taken,” said Kaul.

Justice Rajeev Sharma said there was no clear understanding of when a case should be counted as delayed. He said as e-government initiatives continue to transform the nature of the bureaucracy and enhance the quality of government services, there was a need that Information, Communication and Technology came into play in judicial reform efforts. He said a well-functioning judicial system was required to keep up with the demands of modern democratic society. Lokayukta, Justice LS Panta, and VK Sharma, Chairman, HP State Administrative Tribunal were also present on the occasion.