The lower judiciary in India is plagued by various challenges which directly impacts its productivity. Discuss and suggest some remedial measures.

Lower judiciary or subordinate courts are the courts which function at the district level and below, in the form of session courts (criminal cases) and district court (civil cases). They work under the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Courts.

Challenges faced by lower judiciary:

• Very high pendency of cases.
• Very slow process of appointment of judges, with about 25% of the posts being vacant.
• Huge workload and poor infrastructure in the lower courts.
• Problems of large number of government litigation (around 46%).
• Lack of paralegal staff and other enabling personnel.
• Frequent adjournments and long duration of cases.

Measures to enhance their productivity:

• Swift appointment of judges and giving necessary powers to SPSC.
• Digitization of lower judiciary for proper management of cases.
• Increasing the accessibility of lower judiciary by setting up more courts.
• Rationalization of rules, procedures and laws to reduce government litigation, especially taxation.

To ensure justice for all, the contribution of the lower judiciary is instrumental. Thus, they need to be strengthened.

Topics: GS-II: Various Issues Related to Executive Judiciary in India