THE GRAM NYAYALAYAS ACT, 2008
Table of Contents
Introduction GRAM NYAYALAYAS :
This Act has been basically laid down to provide justice to the citizens and there justice shouldn’t be denied on basis of social, economic and or other disabilities and for matters connected therewith or any other incident therefore. This Act was basically established by the Law Commission in its 114th report to provide speedy justice to the citizen of India. It has 8 chapters and 40 Sections. The Gram Nyayalya Act, which was enacted by Parliament in 2008 and came into effect in October 2009. It basically hears both Civil and Criminal cases.
Analysis of this Act:
Till now 11 states are notify with Gram Nyayalas. But a saddened part it this Several states have issued for establishing Gram nyayalas but allot of them are not functioning except in 3 states of India i.e. Kerala, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
It is basically presided by the Nyayadhikari, which will hold the same power and salary that of the judicial magistrate of the First class. Let me highlight a point here, these Nyayadhikari are basically appointed by the State government in consultation with the respective High Court. According to this Act, it provides for the establishment of nearly 5,067, gram nyayaylayas or village courts across the country. According to the Survey done it has been brought to the notice that establishment of this Nayalayas can reduce around 50% of pendency of cases in subordinate courts. The list of Gram Nayayalas in respective states is as follows: Madhya Pradesh: 89, Rajasthan: 45, Karnataka: 2, and so on.
Role of Gram Nayayalas:
- It is called as mobile court which looks after both the criminal and civil cases.
- The Gram Nyayalaya is expected to endeavour to resolve disputes as much as feasible by bringing the parties together in conciliation, and it can do so by utilising the appointed conciliators.
- The Gram Nyayalaya is not bound by the Indian Evidence Act of 1872’s standards of evidence, but is guided by natural justice principles and subject to any rule imposed by the High Court.
- It is a cost –effective forum, which try to settle the dispute as early as possible, which emphasis on mediation as a key tool to resolve conflict between the parties.
Note: For a proper understanding of the different nature of offences that are tried by Nyayalayas, a distinction needs to be done between Schedule I and II of the Act.
Loophole
- The intention of these courts is to provide speedy justice but due to overburden of these appeals against these Gram Nyalayas, the district court is gain overburdened by the ongoing cases.
- The number of cases and conflicts that have been settled by village courts or gram nyayalayas is extremely small, if not non-existent. This also reflects a lack of trust in these organisations among the general public.
- The job of Nyayadhikari, which is similar to the First-Class Magistrate, does not have a permanent cadre.
- There are difficulties over the jurisdiction of the nyayalayas due to the existence of alternative redressal forums, such as lokadalats, tribunals, and so on.
- Some of the country’s existing gram nyayalayas are located in major city centres, while others are in locations that are inconvenient for villages.
- The key stakeholders, the rural litigants, are unaware of gram nyayalayas and lack awareness about them. There haven’t been enough public awareness campaigns to make the target demographic aware of this institution.
Solution:
Establishment of the permanent Gram Nyayayalas, it will be mandatory and better training facilities should be provided. We really need to go a long way for that better understanding and approach should be there between government, high courts, advocates and Legal Aid cell. Many states failed to publish notifications, and the Supreme Court was forced to order them to do so in February 2020, along with a punishment of Rs. 1 lakh. The lack of finances to build an infrastructure is cited as the primary cause of this situation .There has been loophole in this Act and it should not leave any scope of ambiguity with respect to powers or procedure of officials, employees or institutions concerned. On frequent basis or periodically these Nyayadhikari should hold the court so that there are less number of appeals pending. In terms of these institutions, there has been a complete lack of judicial, political, and executive will, and that is the first thing that needs to change. There needs to be clarity on what these organisations’ mandates are, how we plan to accomplish them, and what resources we’ll need to do so. The Parliamentary standing committee[1]– “The Committee is of the opinion that rule of law cannot be achieved unless courts are created commensurate with the workload of courts. It feels that the creation of more Courts, rather than creation of an additional tier would ease out the burden presently experienced by Courts.”
[1] Parliamentary Standing Committee , 2007
