Deal with mounting arrears in courts, litigation costs: PM

New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) India's Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh Saturday said the government, judiciary and the Bar
Association should make concerted efforts to deal with
mounting arrears in court cases and the growing cost of
litigation.
"It is important that concerted cooperative efforts are
made by the government, judiciary and the Bar Association to
deal with the mounting arrears in our courts and the growing
cost of litigation," he said at the national conference on
'Law and Governance' to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Bar
Association of India (BAI).
Noting that equality before law would not be a living
reality if citizens were not able to access justice at
affordable cost, Singh said, "The plight of the large number
of undertrial prisoners in our jails should move the machinery
of justice to speedy corrective measures as part of the
process of reforming and improving the quality of governance
in our country."
He expressed the hope that the conference would deal with
the practice of law over the years and the interplay of
political, social and economic developments, the socio-legal
processes that deterred providing access to justice and the
necessary legal pre-requisites of good governance.
Pointing out that the judiciary, legislature and executive
should not exceed their respective powers as enshrined in the
Constitution, Singh said the three organs of the state should
work in harmony to maximise public good.
"It is assumed that none of the organs of the state,
whether it is the judiciary or the executive or the
legislature, would exceed its powers as laid down in the
Constitution," he said.
"Even though their jurisdiction may be separated and
demarcated, it is expected that all institutions would work in
harmony and in tandem to maximise the public good," he said.
Referring to one of the topics to be debated at the meet,
Singh said the doctrine of 'separation of powers' was
acknowledged as one of the basic features of the Constitution.
"It is also commonly agreed that all the three organs of
the state, namely the Legislature, the Judiciary and the
Executive, are bound by and subject to provisions of the
Constitution, which demarcates their respective powers,
jurisdictions, responsibilities and relationship with one
another," he said. (MORE) PTI