Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza was not off the mark in Velim on Sunday where he said that the more important issue is filling up vacancies in the judiciary. One can hardly expect courts to clear the large backlog of
cases if they do not have full bench strength. This point was brought home to the public and Prime Minister by the Chief Justice of India who broke down when making a humble plea to the Centre to fill up vacancies. D’Souza’s suggestion to first fill up vacancies and then review the situation makes sense.
But beyond that, the law department must also make and assessment
on the total requirement of judges in the state. India
has 15.5 judges for every million whereas the US had 100. Goa
will need more judges for speedy resolution of court matters.
It might also need more courts and this is where Chief Minister
Laxmikant Parsekar’s suggestion to hold evening courts
fits in. Times have changed since the issue was first discussed
when Pratapsingh Rane was chief minister. The advantage of
evening courts is that there will be no need to create additional
infrastructure. And commuting to and from cities and taluka
headquarters is no longer a problem as the State is now home
to aver 10 lakh vehicles. Perhaps, another debate is required
on the issue. After all the judiciary is the last bastion of hope
and it is in the interest of democracy that it is geared up to deliver
justice in real time.
