New Delhi: The PIL filed by BJP member and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay contended that the Central government had promised to reduce the pendency in 2009, but did nothing to implement the recommendations of the Law Commission regarding the issue. He said that the 'Right to speedy justice' is an integral part of Article 21, but the Centre and States still deliberately neglected its importance.
"Lakhs of cases have been pending with tahsildar, SDM, ADM, CO, SOC and DDC for over 10 years. Therefore, people are suffering from physical, mental and financial stress. When the cases remain pending for a very long time not to mention the mess they leave behind," read the plea.
The plea said that a huge backlog of cases shakes the faith of people in the judiciary and is also the root cause of increasing criminalisation. He said that people are taking the law into their hands because they are losing faith in judiciary, which defeats the ultimate purpose for which laws were framed.
"Petitioner submits that in order to make administration of the justice system effective and meaningful not only the Centre and States, but also the High Courts and the Supreme Court must take appropriate steps immediately so that important constitutional rights of fair trial and speedy justice do not remain on papers or as a mere formality," read the plea.
