Criminal cases up,civil cases down: CJI

In a statement that could start a new debate on the growing crime statistics in the country,Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan...

In a statement that could start a new debate on the growing crime statistics in the country,Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has expressed concern over a disturbing trend in the country fall in civil disputes but rise in criminal cases.

Speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Bar Association of India on Thursday evening,Balakrishnan said the fall in the number of civil cases coming to courts was a serious matter that needed to be studied. We need to know why people are not coming forward to file civil cases, he observed.

Citing figures,the CJI said while criminal cases had witnessed a 3 per cent rise,there had been a six per cent decrease in civil cases. This is a very disturbing trend, he said.

He also stated that a whopping 71 per cent of the cases pending in lower courts in the country were criminal cases.

He disclosed that while in states with higher literacy levels,the number of civil cases was 29 per 1,000 people,the same was just 4.6 per 1,000 in the remaining states.

Maintaining that the legal profession in the country is at a crossroads,Balakrishnan admitted that it was a cause of concern that the common citizens view court proceedings as cause of harassment to both the sides involved in the dispute rather than a means for resolving disputes.

There are of course several structural reasons behind these problems which are frequently discussed, he added.

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He lamented that there had been some instances of collusion between the defence and prosecution counsel in criminal cases in recent times. He talked about the exceptionally high fees by lawyers.

The CJI also underscored the need to review the existing system by which the profession is being regulated.

He observed that statutory bodies such as the Bar Council of India and state bar councils often took too much time in deciding complaints of professional misconduct by lawyers.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee,who was also present,advocated the need to set up circuit Benches of the Supreme Court as well as High Courts. Bar Association of India Secretary Lalit Bhasin said there was a need to ensure greater transparency in all three wings of the state legislature,executive and judiciary.