Law & Justice | Building legal muscle
The need of the hour is to prioritise the appointment of judges and infrastructure to expedite faster justice delivery and reduce the economic impact on citizens
As Arjun Ram Meghwal takes charge as the country’s law minister, the foremost task before his ministry is to fortify what is a crucial pillar of government, both in terms of manpower and infrastructure.
As Arjun Ram Meghwal takes charge as the country’s law minister, the foremost task before his ministry is to fortify what is a crucial pillar of government, both in terms of manpower and infrastructure.
The India Justice Report, published in 2023 by Tata Trusts, has found that India has 19 judges per million people (when calculated against sanctioned strength), some 36 years after the Law Commission had in 1987 envisaged 50 judges per million population in a decade. This not only denies the common citizen quick dispensation of justice, but the delays also impacted 0.5 per cent of India’s GDP annually, according to a study by Daksh India in 2016. On his first day at work, Meghwal expressed hope that a solution would be found for the issue of the Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of Supreme Court judges, and the elevation and transfer of high court judges. His ministry has also cleared the National Litigation Policy, which despite being in the works for a decade had not seen the light of day.