New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday told a petitioner that it is not the American Supreme Court, which hears limited cases while dismissing a plea seeking direction for a fixed time frame for the disposal of cases pending before all the courts in the country. The apex court said though time-bound disposal of cases was "very desirable", but it is "unachievable".
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, and comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The bench observed that the petitioner seeks disposal of all cases in courts, including the Supreme Court, between 12 and 36 months.
The bench said it could not restrict the filing of cases and emphasised that the judicial system in India provided access to justice to all. The petitioner clarified that he does not seek to restrict anybody from moving before courts.
The petitioner drew the court’s attention to the presence of a time frame for the disposal of cases in other countries. The apex court said several things were required for such an exercise, which included enhancing the infrastructure and increasing the number of judges.
"We are not the American Supreme Court," said the bench and questioned the petitioner, "You want to hear in all the cases to be disposed of within 12 months in the Supreme Court?"
The CJI orally observed that though time-bound disposal of cases was “very desirable”, it was “unachievable”. The bench asked the petitioner whether he was aware of the number of cases being handled by the Supreme Court in America or some other countries in a year. The bench told the petitioner that the number of cases being dealt with or disposed of by the benches in the apex court in a day was more than what the Supreme Court in several Western countries dealt with in a year.
