INDIA: Give Priority To Pending Cases Of Senior Citizens, High Court Judges Told

CHANDIGARH (Indian Express), February 12, 2008: In a significant decision and for the first time, all judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court have been instructed to quickly dispose of pending cases of senior citizens, widows and ex-servicemen. Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain issued this notice on Monday in an attempt to allay problems faced by these categories of litigants. According to the notification, a special regular cause list will be prepared by every court listing all pending cases — criminal or civil — pertaining to people in these groups. Every court will also report on the status of these cases every week to the chief justice. All advocates arguing the cases will also be apprised. The idea germinated at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s workshop — “Speedy disposal of criminal cases” — held on January 19. It was attended by the chief justice, other judges of the High Court, director general of police (DGP), Punjab and almost all state SSPs. In the interactive session, which saw participation from Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, K S Garewal, Uma Nath Singh and several Punjab Police officers, the need to have a special list for these people was highlighted. The police pointed out that people in these groups are most vulnerable to being harassed. Judges have welcomed this decision. Vice-President of the High Court’s Bar Association Gurinder Singh Attariwala said, “People who will benefit from this decision are the ones who suffer most”. By Raghav Ohri © 2008 Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.