RS passes historic Gram Nyayalaya Bill

Rajya Sabha today passed the historic Bill to provide inexpensive justice at doorstep to poor people and tribals who otherwise had to travel long distances to district courts for litigation. The Gram Nyayalaya Bill, 2008, moved yesterday by Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, seeks to set up mobile courts which would be sent to every block in the country and hear and decide the cases of the poor people whose income is less than Rs 20,000 and cannot afford litigation expenses.

About 5067 such courts would be set up and each would be headed by a First Class Magistrate. The Law Minister, in his reply, asserted that within the next five years, India would have the best judicial system in the world. The project, which was started on a pilot basis two years back in Haryana, had shown good results and would, therefore, be extended to other parts of the country, the Minister said in his reply. The Central government will provide 100 per cent cost as the capital amount for setting up the courts and the salary of the employees, including the Magistrate, would be decided by the Central and state government.

It would, however, be voluntary on the state governments whether or not to accept the courts, the Law Minister said while making it clear that ''it will be voluntary for the states. It will not be forced on them.'' Everything had been studied properly in consultation with state and central governments and the Law Commission before the Bill was brought, the Minister said.

Editors: Here pick up suitably from earlier series.

-- (UNI) -- 17PAR29.xml

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