The Supreme Court on Wednesday highlighted that there cannot be a uniform approach to establishing Gram Nyayalayas, or village courts, across India, recognizing that conditions vary significantly from state to state. The court was addressing a plea that called for directives to the Centre and all states to establish these grassroots judicial bodies under Supreme Court supervision.
The 2008 Gram Nyayalayas Act was enacted to provide accessible justice at people’s doorsteps, particularly aimed at those hampered by social, economic, or other barriers. However, the implementation has seen varying degrees of enthusiasm across different states.
Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan noted during the hearing that the applicability and necessity of Gram Nyayalayas differ across regions. For instance, the Delhi government’s counsel argued that such institutions were unnecessary in the capital due to the absence of gram panchayats. Similarly, some northeastern states have alternative traditional systems that fulfill similar roles, making additional village courts redundant.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner NGO National Federation of Societies for Fast Justice, highlighted the pressing issue of case backlogs in Indian courts to advocate for the widespread establishment of Gram Nyayalayas. However, the bench emphasized that each state’s specific circumstances must be considered.
Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, serving as amicus curiae, shared that pursuant to an order from October 16, some states had submitted affidavits with details on the number of established Gram Nyayalayas. However, the responses varied, with some states declaring the act non-mandatory and thus not essential for them to implement.
To further address these variances, the amicus has prepared a questionnaire for the states. The Supreme Court has directed chief secretaries of the states to submit detailed affidavits responding to this questionnaire within 12 weeks. These responses are expected to cover several aspects, including the judge-to-population ratio at the district level.
The court warned that failure to comply with these directions might prompt serious actions against the chief secretaries of the states concerned. The matter has been scheduled for review in 14 weeks.
