Expressing concern over non-listing of more than 400 cases, which were kept in the cold storage, despite being ready for hearing and without assigning of any reasons, Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit on Friday announced listing of the same from October 31.
During an open hearing of one such case, Justice Lalit said he recently came to know about one section of the Registry, where such cases were kept pending, for unknown reasons.
Calling it a serious issue, the CJI said that an enquiry would be conducted into each one of these cases, so as to the reason why they were not listed. He assured that action will be taken against the officials responsible for this.
Such a practice was proving to be a hindrance to the justice delivery system and should be barred, noted the Bench headed by the CJI.
CJI Lalit, who took over the office in August, has initiated a number of steps to reduce the pendency of cases in courts across the country.
Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit on Friday expressed concern over non-listing of more than 400 cases that despite being ready for hearing were kept in the cold storage, without assigning any reasons.
While hearing one such case, the CJI said, “When we went deeper into this, we found that there was one section of the registry where these cases were kept pending, for reasons yet unknown.”
“This is a serious issue. From October 31, all these cases will be listed. We will find out the reason in each one of these cases as to why they were not listed and we will take action against the officials responsible for this,” the CJI said in an open court hearing.
The bench also expressed concern over the fact that such a practice is a hindrance to the justice delivery system and should be barred.
From the time CJI Lalit took over, he has been working on ways to dispose of the old cases and cases that have not got any hearing for a long time. Due to the CJI’s initiatives, several Constitution bench cases managed to be heard after several years.
The current pendency in the Supreme Court of India stands at 69,461 cases as on October 1.