Delayed justice may lead to Bihar-like situation, warns SC

Sanjay K Singh NEW DELHI

TAKING cognisance of the inordinate delays in delivering justice
that makes people lose faith in the judiciary and take law in their
own hands, the Supreme Court has said if the trend is not arrested the
situation will go out of hand. The apex court, expressing concern on
recent lynching cases in Bihar, asked the concerned authorities to
take necessary action to rectify the volatile situation in the
country.

A bench comprising Justice A K Mathur and Justice Markandey Katju
zeroing in on the recent lynching cases reported from Bihar expressed
concern on inordinate judicial delays in delivering justice in the
country. "This is obviously because many people have started thinking
that justice will not be done in the courts due to the delays in court
proceedings. This is indeed an alarming state of affairs, and we once
again request the concerned authorities to do the needful in the
matter urgently before the situation goes totally out of control,"
said court.

The court reiterated its observation made in Rajindra Singh (dead)
& Ors vs Prem Mai &Ors, which was delivered on August 23, 2007. In
that case, the court had said because of delay in disposal of cases
people in this country were fast losing their faith in the judiciary.
"We again express our deep concern at the delay in disposing of cases
in our courts," bench said.

The court said due to delayed legal proceedings, the people are
forced to take law in their own hands. "We saw in the media news of
lynching of suspected thieves in Bihar's Vaishali district, the
gunning down of an undertrial prisoner outside Patna civil court and
other incidents where people have taken the law into their own hands,"
it said.

The bench made these strong observations while delivering a case
related to property dispute stretching for over 60 years. The apex
court asked the district judge of Kanyakumari in TN to decide it
within six months to avoid further delay in the case.

Victims of vigilante justice in Bihar.

Source : Economic Times, New Delhi