Malappuram model for settling cases

According to statistics as of August this year, the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court, High Courts and lower courts in India is more than 50 million. Of these, 88,417 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, 63.3 lakh cases in the High Courts and 46 crore cases in the lower courts. Many of these cases are decades old and many years have passed since both the plaintiff and the defendant left this world. The judiciary in the country has an appellate system that allows one to file appeals one after the other. This means that it will take at least a quarter of a century to resolve a civil case. There is a strong debate in society that approaching the courts for justice is meaningless in such a situation.

The reality that there is not much difference between justice received too late and justice denied is the biggest challenge facing the judicial system. There have been many studies in the country on the issue of cases remaining unresolved. The Law Commission has put forward many valuable suggestions at various stages. Although many of these have been implemented, it cannot be said that the speed of the Indian judiciary has increased. However, it cannot be ignored that it has improved a lot from the old days. One of the main reasons for the pending cases is the shortage of judges. There is one judge for every one million people. The Law Commission recommended that this be changed to 50, but this has not been implemented yet.

The indolence and lethargy of lawyers play a major role in the delay in the completion of cases. If the case is completed quickly, their income will also stop quickly. The emergence of a Malappuram model in such a situation, showing that any case can be resolved if we put our minds to it, is like a shining star in the midst of darkness, providing us with comfort and guidance. While cases usually drag on for decades, Malappuram has created new history by resolving 1000 cases in 86 days. The 'Mediation for the Nation' campaign, which was directed by the Supreme Court to resolve cases quickly, was being implemented in the best possible way in Malappuram under the leadership of Principal District Judge K. Sanilkumar.

Lawyers there also came forward with great enthusiasm to make the campaign a success. After realizing that cases were being resolved quickly, the parties also gave up their stubbornness and cooperated with the campaign with more interest. Thrissur district, which resolved 584 cases, came in second place, and Alappuzha district, which resolved 581 cases, came in third place. Malappuram has become a great model for this campaign, which resolves accident claims, marital cases, bounced checks, domestic violence, and civil cases through mediation, and it is hoped that it will serve as an inspiration to other courts in the country.