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Panchayat Courts Law being drafted The Hindu
The Union Minister of law and justice, H.R. Bharadwaj, at a seminar organized to mark the 61 st birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, said that the Govt. was drafting a separate law on Panchayat Courts (Gram Nyayalayas), which would be integrated into the existing Panchayati Raj system but not at a cost of diluting the quality of justice. Starting that he had already started interactions with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, and the National Advisory Council (NAC), Mr. Bharadwaj said he would consult non-governmental organizations that had worked in this field before drafting the law. “The details of such a law are being examined by the law Ministry, but in the name of Panchayati Raj. Let us not adulterate our judicial system” Pointing out that the existing panchayat system had become politicized in many states, Mr. Bharadwaj said that people in rural area should not feel that their rights would be snatched away by the proposed Panchayat courts. He suggested that the Panchayat Courts include two judges with the qualification of Judicial Magistrate First Class or Civil judge (Junior Division). He said the Courts would follow summary procedure without dispensing with rules of corroboration with a provision of appeal to the district judge. He said that the law would be based on the 114 th law commission Report. The pecuniary Jurisdiction for civil courts would extend to Rs. 2 lakhs and for criminal matters to imprisonment of up to 2 years.
Mr Bharadwaj said that the plan for Panchayat Court would involve at least 2000 courts and more than 4000 judges. He said that he would like to involve more women judges and that the Govt. would introduce the element of legal aid by paying for legal aid lawyers to assist the courts. The Minister said that the Govt. would also consider sending mobile courts to remote areas. He said: “Judges can travel to villages, adopt blocks as their headquarters and work there.”
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