district court

In most years, the annual Joint Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers gets barely a passing mention in media outlets and is forgotten soon after. This year it was different.

As of today, there are more than 20 million cases pending in the Indian district courts; two-thirds are criminal cases and one in 10 have been pending for more than 10 years, our analysis of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) data has revealed.

East Delhi district court Karkardooma was the scene of a shootout about an hour ago, as unidentified persons entered its courtroom 73 and fired several bullet rounds.

A total of 2,273 cases were disposed of and a settlement amount of over Rs. 28.37 crore was awarded to claimants by various Delhi courts during the seventh monthly National Lok Adalat held on Saturday.

A Delhi State Legal Services Authority spokesperson said 40 benches were constituted in which 2,236 cases were disposed of pertaining to traffic challans, criminal compoundable cases and a settlement amount of Rs 16,28,18,058 was awarded to claimants.

It was the seventh monthly Lok Adalat organised in district court complexes -- Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Patiala House, Saket, Rohini and Dwarka -- under the supervision of Delhi high court Chief Justice G Rohini.

Lok Adalats were organised in all the three debt recovery tribunals where 23 cases were disposed off and the settlement amount was approximately Rs 11,38,89,204.

Lok Adalats were also organised in district consumer forums in which three benches were constituted. Fourteen cases were settled and the settlement amount was Rs 69,30,025.

Lawyers of Delhi’s district courts on Tuesday began an indefinite strike against the delay in passage of an amended bill in parliament on enhancement of pecuniary jurisdiction of trial courts.

Advocate RK Wadhwa, chairman of the coordination committee of all district courts bar associations, said lawyers would abstain from work till the bill is passed by parliament.

The lawyers’ association would wait for one week for passage of the bill and thereafter intensify the protest, he said.

The committee said that despite assurances, the government has not cleared the proposed bill enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction to Rs.2 crore.

Judicial work in six city courts -- Patiala House, Tis Hazari, Rohini, Karkardooma, Saket and Dwarka -- was paralysed.

The Delhi high court Bar Association on Wednesday called off its strike protesting the clearance of bill by the Rajya Sabha to increase pecuniary jurisdiction of the high court as parliament adjourned before it could be passed by the Lok Sabha.

The Delhi high court Bar Association (DHCBA) today called for a two-day strike against the Rajya Sabha deciding to increase the pecuniary jurisdiction of district courts yesterday, after the district court bar had been on a back-to-back strike of nearly two weeks.

Six women sit huddled in one corner of the administration room in Patiala House court complex, surrounded by a sea of smiling men.

Delhi court staff crib about government-run dispensaries that stock little else but Paracetamol in this time of mucus and mouth-breathing, coupled with apathetic doctors.

Delhi’s Saket district court took the lead among Indian district courts on 31 July in allowing emailed service of process.

The Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) yesterday resisted the proposal of the Delhi high court to increase its original jurisdiction from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore, noting that it would inconvenience the litigant public, “affect the quality of the judgements” and decrease the opportunity for young lawyers to get “groomed” on the original side.

The Delhi district court’s pecuniary jurisdiction may increase from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore after the proposal was considered in a meeting of judges of the Delhi high court yesterday, according to two independent sources.

Today rumours have been spreading in Delhi courts’ corridors via text messages that the change has been made.

The pecuniary jurisdiction was enhanced previously in 2002 from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. [DK Mahant]

Update: Formal confirmation from the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) has arrived, that they have “made a representation” to the Delhi high court’s chief justice and other judges, taking “all steps necessary to safeguard the interest of the members” of the DHCBA. [DHCBA letter via DK Mahant]

The Hindustan Times reported today that only 60 to 70 practising advocates in the Gurgaon district courts were women, compared to 1,200 men.