Tbirteenth Series, Vol. XV, No. 11 Thursday, March 8, 2001 Phalguna 17. 1922 (Saka) LOK SABRA DEBATES (English Version) Sixth Session (Thirteenth Lok Sabha) (Vol. XV contains Nos. J J to 2 J ) LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI Price: Rs. 50.00 EDITORIAL BOARD G.C. Malhotra Secretary-General LokSabha Dr. PK Sandhu Joint Secretary P .C. Chaudhary Principal Chief Editor YK Abrol Chief Editor A.P. Chakravarti Senior Editor Vijay Chhabra Editor [ORIGINAL ENGLISH PROCEEDINGS INCLUDED IN ENGliSH VERSION AND ORIGINAL HINDI PROCEEDINGS INCLUDED IN HINDI VERSION WILL t . TREATED AS AuTHORITATIVE AND NOT THE TRANSlATION THEREOF) CONTENTS Thirteenth Series, Vol. xv. Sheth SftsJon 200111Q22 (Seka) Thursday, March 8, 2001/Ph.'gun. 17, 1822 (Saka) 5ueJEcr ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ·Starr1!d Questions Nos. 161 to 163 1-22 WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS: Starred Questions Nos. 164 to 180 23---40 Unstarred Questions Nos. 1670 to 1848 .. 40-230 PAPERS LAID ON THE TABLE ......................................................... 230-234 COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC UNDERTAKINGS Statement ............................... 234-235 STANDING COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Seventeenth Report . 235 BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE ............................................................ 235-238 MOTION RE: NINETEENTH REPORT OF BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE ........... 238 RE: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY ........................... 238-252 RE: NON-PROCUREMENT OF RICE BY FCIIN ANDHRA PRADESH ............................. 253-254 RE: REPORTED INTERVI:NTION BY THE SUPREME COURT ON BALCO . 254-265 MOTION OF THANKS ON PRESIDENTS ADDRESS-CONTO. 266--388 Shri Somnath Chatterjee. 266 Shri Prabhunath Singh . 281 Shri Mulayam Singh V.dav . 288 Shri Chandra Shekhar . 301 Shri Prasanna Acharye . 309 Shri M.v.V.S. Murthl ............................................................... :. 316 Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi . 321 Dr. Bikram Sarkar . 329 • The sign + marked above the name of a Member indicates that the questIOn was actually asked on the floor of the House by that Member. (ii) Shri Anadi Sahu .................................................................. 333 Shri B,lkrishan Chauhan . 339 Shri Abdul Rashid Shaheen ......................................................... 342 Shri Sanat Kumar Mandai ........................................................... 345 Shri Ramjivan Singh ............................................................... 347 Shri K.P. Singh Oeo ............................................................... 351 Dr. Sushil Kumar Indora ............................................................ 356 Shri Amar Roy Pradhan ............................................................ 360 Shrimati Jayashree Banerjee . 362 Shri S.D.N.R. Wadiyar ............................................................. 366 Shri Ramdas Athawale ............................................................ 369 Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar ........................................................ 374 Shri P.R. Kyndiah ................................................................. 378 Shri N.N. Krishnadas .............................................................. 382 Shri Vijay Goel . • . 384 LOK SABHA DEBATES LOKSABHA citizens, enactment of numerous laws. radical change in the pattern of litigation. frequent adjournment of cases, lawyers' strike etc. Tltul'Sday, March 8,2001, Phalgu,..17, 1822 (S.ka) The Government and the judiciary are concerned about the pendency of cases. The LoI< Sabha met at Eleven oftire Clock Judicial reform is a continuous process. Government has taken steps for amending various procedural laws from time to time to simplify procedures to speed up disposal of cases on the in the [ MR. SPeAKER Chair ] basis of the advice and recommendations of expert bodies, like the Law Commission. Malimath ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Committee etc. Other measures, inter alia, include increase in {English] the number of posts of Judges/Judicial Officers, establishment of Special Courts/Tribunals, Reforms In Judicial System appointment of Special Judicial/Metropolitan Magistrates, computerisation of court and adoption of alternative modes of dispute resolution, such as. *161. SHRI RAM TAHAL CHAUDHARY: Will the arbitration and conciliation. Lok Adalats have been Minister of LAW, JUSTICE AND COMPANY AFFAIRS given a statutory base as supplementary forum for be pleased to state : resolution of disputes. (a) whether cases for 20 years or more are Government has sanctioned an amount of pending in various courts due to the present Judicial Rs. 502.90 crore for creation of 1734 Fast Track Courts system: for expeditious disposal of long pending cases and (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; cases Involving undertrials on priority. These courts will start functioning with effect from April, 2001. (c) whether the Government are facing impediments to bring about reforms In the present A pilot project for the computerisation and networking of all courts in the four metropOlitan cities system; and of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Chennai Is being taken (d) if so, the details thereof? up in the year 2001-02 to serve as a model for other courts in the country. Computerisation and THE MINISTER OF LAW. JUSTICE AND COMPANY networking of courts will augment the capacities of AFFAIRS AND MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI ARUN courts In the country and speed up disposal of cases. JAITLEY) : (a) to (d) A Statement Is laid on the Table of the House. Besides, the Supreme Court has taken a number of initiatives for expeditious disposal of cases such as more practical categorisation and grouping of St.tement cases, to take up for hearM"lg all the cases listed for the particular day as far as possible, non- (a) to (d) 80 ca.ses were pending for more than accumulation of defective matters, reservation of 20 years in the Supreme Court of India as on more and sufficient time slot for old pending cases 5.7.2000. in chronological order and streamlining of administration and manpower of the registry through The information regarding number 0'- cases computer network. The High Courts have also taken pending for more than 20 years In respect of High similar steps to reduce backlog of cases. Courts and Subordinate Courts is not available In Department of Justice. The Information Is being Annexure collected from the High Courts. However. cases pending for more than 10 years Number of cases pending for more than fO years in various High Courts as on 31.12.1999 are in subordinate courts (State-wise) 5,00,855. The cases pending for more than 10 year. in the Subordinate Courts of the Country, State-wise. S.No. Name of the Over ten As on are at Annexe enclosed. States/UTs years old Pendency of cases in different courts arises from 2 3 4 various complex factors. These. inter-a/la, Include non-filling up of vacancies of judges. inadequate 1. Andhra Pradesh 7177 6/2000 judge strength. increased institution of cases on Arunachal Pradesh 0 6/1999 account of awareness of the rights on the part of the 2. 3 Ora/ Answers MARCH 8, 2001 to Questions 4 as possible but now the position is that there is none 2 3 4 to plead the case of the poor people who commit petty crimes. The number of such cases pending in 3. Assam 32 12/1999 the Courts run not in lakhs but in crores. For success 4. Bihar 59449 6/2000 of the Democracy. Judiciary should be made independent, which should give decisions 5. Goa 2857 1212000 expeditiously. I had asked from the honourable 6. Gujarat 97822 612000 Minister about the number of cases pending in the Courts for more than twenty years. But I have not been 7. Haryana 1880 12/1998 given any reply in this regard. The minister told me that the information is being collected 'from the High 8. Himachal Pradesh 351 612000 Courts. 9. Jammu & Kashmir 3827 12/1998 MR. SPEAKER: You are asking about the pending 10 Karnataka 28132 612000 cases? 11. Kerala 2825 612000 SHRI RAM TAHAL CHAUDHARY: Mr. Speaker, Sir, at present the number of pending cases has been 12. Madhya Pradesh 66219 6/2000 reported to be 29.344. As I have already said that the 13. Maharashtra 217257 6/2000 poor people are suffering from it. A number of reasons have been given in this regard which inter 14. Manipur 431 12/1999 alia include shortage of Judges and Magistrates and several other reasons have been cited. 15. Meghalaya 1658 12/1999 MR. SPEAKER: Chaudhary ji, you have not asked 16. Mizoram 2 6/2000 a supplementary so far. 17. Nagaland Not Available SHRI RAM TAHAL CHAUDHARY: Mr. Speaker, Sir, 18. Orissa 10187 612000 the reply says that appointment of judges would be made expeditiously where judges are short in number. 19. Punjab 4142 12/1998 I would like to ask whether the Government have 20. Rajasthan 49468 612000 appointed the Judges and what measures Government propose to take to dispose of the pending 21. Sikkim 0 12/1999 cases expeditiously. 22. Tamil Nadu 5182 12/1999 SHRI ARUN JAITLEY : Mr. Speaker, Sir, The question has got two parts. The first part relates to 23 Tripura 335 6/2000 the appointments. The recommendations for 24 Uttar Pradesh 158532 12/1999 appointment of Judges with in the Judiciary are sent by the Judiciary itself. The sooner the 25. West Bengal 95555 12/1998 recommendations are received, the earlier the appointments are made. So far as the Government 26. Andaman & Nicobar 3 6/1999 are concerned, there IS no delay on their part. The 27. Chandigarh 79 12/1998 Government have thought of several other measures in this regard. A Bill has been introduced in the 28. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 7 6/2000 Parliament to bring amendments