SC for own budget to revitalise courts - CJIs Proposal Comes In The Wake Of Govt Delays In Refurbishing Courts

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice SH Kapadia's stewardship appears to have stolen a march over the Centre with its proposal that a national budget be created by accumulating all court fees,costs and fines to improve judicial infrastructure. Monday's proposal comes in the wake of delays in refurbishing the infrastructure,and the huge pendency faced by trial courts. The government had on October 24 last year released its vision statement proposing huge funding for lower court infrastructure and a special purpose vehicle,identical to what the CJI proposed in the form of national budget. Law minister M Veerappa Moily on July 21 had announced pumping in Rs 14,000 crore in the next five years to make lower courts user friendly for all- judges,lawyers and litigants.

But the apex court headed by Justice Kapadia doesn't appear too enthused with the government's plan.
It wants to have full control of the national fund created out of the revenue collected through litigation fees, fines and costs imposed by courts which at present goes to the consolidated fund of the Govt.  Even in raising the query,a Bench comprising the CJI and Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan cut out the frills and asked solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam,"Can we not have a national budget for judicial infrastructure under the aegis of the Supreme Court. It is just a thought.Amounts presently collected in court in terms of fees,costs and fines go to the consolidated fund and virtually nothing is allocated."

The SG was in a piquant position.For,attorney general G E Vahanvati and the SG had helped in drafting the law minister's vision for judicial reforms that included giving boost to infrastructure including creation of an SPV from the court fees and other levies.He maintained that the government was committed to provide adequate infrastructure to judiciary. The Bench asked the SG to get the Centre's response within two weeks to the proposal for creation of a national budget under the control of the apex court. It also asked chief secretaries of states to respond within four weeks with details of infrastructure available in each district and subordinate court under a proforma given by the apex court which sought every possible information --from availability of diesel generator sets to toilet facilities and libraries.
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(source-toi)