Stalwarts of legal arena gathered for a national consultation in the city and recommended various reformatory measures to speed up the country’s justice deliverance system.

Organised by Symbiosis Law School (SLS) in collaboration with Law Commission of India and Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics (Pune), the consultation was held on January 28 at Symbiosis Vishwabhavan and SLS Auditorium on Senapati Bapat Road. The event’s topic was ‘current challenges and reforms in civil and criminal justice deliverance system’.

The inaugural function had stalwarts of the national legal fraternity, which included justice PV Reddy (chairman, law commission of India), justice Roshan Dalvi (judge, Bombay high court), Ram Jethmalani (advocate and professor emeritus, SLS), NR Madhava Menon (former member, Law Commission of India), Rajas Parchure (director, Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics), Padma Bhushan SB Mujumdar (chancellor, Symbiosis International University), Shashikala Gurpur (director, SLS) and Vidya Yeravdekar (principal director, Symbiosis).

In his inaugural speech, Reddy took the question of clearance and speedy disposal of backlogs. “It is a million dollar question that is haunting us.”

He said that increasing number of criminal cases are being filed due to rising population, people’s awareness towards law, growth of business and commerce.

“In our anxiety to control crime rate and reduce cases is court, we cannot suppress crime by suppressing freedom and enforcing discipline by harsh draconian laws. Judiciary does not have a magic wand to clear the backlog and empty there dockets,” said Reddy.

Suggesting old rules must be revised thoroughly and assessed on a realistic basis, Reddy pointed that for every one million population, there must be at least 50 judges. Currently, there are only 14-15 judges per million.

“In Maharashtra, out of 29 lakh cases filed last year, six lakh cases were of cheque bouncing, out which 3.5 lakh were from Mumbai and over 80,000 from Pune,” he said.

On Lokpal Bill, Reddy said, “No institution should be so powerful and present Lokpal Bill, which has excluded the judiciary.”

He said that every state has an anti-corruption law, which, at present, is a neglected department. He stressed on strengthening the anti-corruption law and insulating it from political influence.

In his speech, Madhava Menon informed about the national mission on legal reforms and speedy development of justice. “The government has already provided Rs5,000 crore for the mission and the Planning Commission in the 12th plan is preparing for providing another Rs10,000 crore,” he said.

Jethmalani said that the legal framework in our country predominantly needs constant upgradation. He emphasised that there should be decentralisation of Supreme Court benches and rethinking on archaic laws such as those of bail and blasphemy.

Shashikala Gurpur, talking about future plans, said that a deal was signed on January 26 for a spacious new campus for Symbiosis Law School, which will be built on 5-acres at a very visible place near Pune airport in Vimannagar.