Litigation: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
Contents |
Cost of litigation
From the archives of The Times of India 2007, 2009
Pay Rs 45L litigation cost, HC tells tenant
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Efforts of a tenant to hold on to his rented shop by resorting to unwanted litigation proved costly as the Delhi High Court on Thursday directed him to bear all expenses of his landlord in the legal battle by coughing up a whopping Rs 45 lakh.
A bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Mukta Gupta took exception to various ‘‘indirect and calculated methods’’ adopted by Sanjeev Kumar Jain to remain in possession of a leased property after losing his case before various judicial forums in the last eight years and directed him to bear the cost incurred by his landlord.
Jain had entered into a tenancy agreement with the Raghubir Saran Charitable Trust in 1986 but on account of some dispute, he had to vacate the premises following a court order in 2003.
‘‘This appeal was persisted with for no apparent good reason. We are left with the impression that the appellant has tried everything possible to somehow or the other hold on to the shop (tenanted property) despite his physical eviction there from,’’ the court said while dismissing the appeal.
The court also took into account the facts that Jain suppressed the material facts by not filing the site plan of the property and claiming himself to be tenant when he was already evicted following a court order.
‘‘All that we need say is that the appellant has little or no regard for the truth which, to say the least, is a little unfortunate,’’ the bench said while dismissing the appeal.
The cost of lost wages, legal fees
The Times of India, Apr 21 2016
Lost wages, legal fees cost litigants over Rs. 80,000cr a year, finds study
Pradeep Thakur
A nationwide survey conducted in 300 courts across 24 states interviewing 9,000 litigants has thrown up some startling results: the loss of wages and business for litigants attending lower court hearings has been estimated at over Rs 50,000 crore a year at an average of Rs 1,746 per case per day. Add to this the cost incurred by litigants in a year on payment of legal fees and other expenditure, and the figure is in excess of Rs 80,000 crore annually or 0.70% of India's GDP (in 2015-16).
The `Access to Justice Survey' was conducted by Daksh, a Bengaluru-based NGO engaged in analysing the performance of the judiciary which was recently engaged by the law ministry to study pendency in high courts and district courts.
Daksh partnered with National Law University , Delhi, to carry out the survey which started in November 2015 and concluded in February with interviews of 9,329 litigants in both civil and criminal matters in 305 lower courts spread across 170 districts in 24 states.
The study , to be released on Saturday , gave its findings on various aspects, including the percentage of male and female litigants; which religious group was more litigious; socio-economic profile of litigants; ease of access to the system and the cost of judicial delays.
The study found that civil litigants spent Rs 497 per day on an average on lower court hearings by way of legal fees and other expenditure and incurred a loss of Rs 844 per day on account of wages and work time lost for appearing in court -adding up Rs 1,341 for every day spent in court. In criminal cases, the cost incurred was Rs 1,444 -Rs 542 on expenditure involving attending court hearings and legal fees and Rs 902 per day due to loss of paybusiness income.
Thus, over Rs 50,000 crore was spent on account of average wage and business loss due to attending court hearings, which is almost 0.44% of GDP. The cost incurred by all litigants towards legal fees and other expenses added up to another Rs 30,000 crore.
The findings revealed that litigants in family matters and service cases spent more on each hearing than other litigants. Those from the lowest income bracket incurred a greater cost than others and the average daily expenses of plaintiffs was 21% less than the accused, according to the study .
On an average, a complainant in civil cases spent Rs 20,000 per case till it was decided, more than the accused who incurred only Rs 15,000 cost. In criminal cases, the accused tended to spend more, Rs 20,000 compared to Rs 10,000 by the plaintiff.
The complex judicial system is more taxing for the low income group with annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh. “About 44% of litigants cited expenses as a major deterrent for not filing appeals in the high court if their cases were not resolved in their favour,“ the study said. As many as 15% litigants had to travel between 50 km and 300 km to reach the courts for hearings.
Causes/ nature of litigation
76% are property & family disputes
The Times of India, Apr 26 2016
Pradeep Thakur
Property & family disputes account for 76% of litigation Property disputes and family conflicts clog our judicial system and in a majority of cases, police detain the accused unnecessarily. These are the findings of Daksh, an NGO which analyses the performance of the judiciary . Around 66% of all cases studied are property-related litigations, and 10%, the second largest chunk, are family matters.
The other issues leading to litigation were recovery of money (8%), and permanent injunction, whereby a court orders a person or entity to take certain action or refrain from certain activities (3.4%).
The survey , involving more than 9,000 civil and crimi nal matters over 300 subordinate courts across the country , boosts the government's call for a “no detention policy“ in the near future where arrest is an exception and not the rule if an accused is available for interrogation and has honoured court summons.
In 64% of the cases, the accused was found to have been granted bail within a month of their arrest, probably since the courts did not find enough merit in keeping them behind bars. Another 14% were granted bail between one and six months. The apex court had in the past, while supporting `bail is the rule and jail is exception' theory , observed that police should refrain from arresting an accused if he or she is ready to cooperate in investigation and there is no fear that the accused would run away from clutches of the law.
During the study , spread over three months, Daksh interviewed 9,329 litigants in both civil and criminal matters from 305 lower courts in 170 districts in 24 states. The wide range of data portrays the need to correct the entire justice delivery system corroded over a period of time, which at present seems to be favouring the rich and the influential. The survey by the Bengaluru NGO was released on Saturday in the capital in presence of Justice Madan B Lokur, senior Supreme Court judge overseeing the implementation of judicial reforms in the country .
The survey also substantiates what the National Law University (NLU) -which partnered Daksh in the current survey -had found in an independent study last year.The NLU's interviews with 373 death row convicts had found that 75% of those given death penalty belonged to economically weaker sections, backward classes and religious minorities.
Many of them were sentenced to death probably be cause they couldn't defend their case because of their failure to find a competent lawyer to contest their conviction.
The current Daksh study too, points to a similar picture: around 31% of those who couldn't avail of bail was due to their inability to furnish a bail bond. In 2.8% of cases, the accused couldn't find a guarantor who could stand as surety . Surprisingly , there is no rule that prohibits the courts from releasing an undertrial where it feels detention is avoidable. The amended Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for release of undertrials under personal bond where he is not able to furnish the bond money or surety .
70% are criminal cases, 10% filed by women/ 2017
Pradeep Thakur, Just 10% of pending cases filed by women, October 9, 2017: The Times of India
From: Pradeep Thakur, Just 10% of pending cases filed by women, October 9, 2017: The Times of India
Though women comprise nearly half the count ry's population and are often at the receiving end of family and property disputes, besides crimes, few of them move courts to seek redress. This is borne out by the fact that just a little over 10% of the 2.55 crore cases pending in subordinate and district courts across the country have been filed by women.
A key aspect of pending litigation is that of the 90% ca ses filed by men, 70% are criminal cases, whereas among those filed by women, criminal cases add up to less than 50% despite widespread incidence of domestic violence and harassment against them.
The fact that nearly 90% of all cases are filed by men indi cates the patriarchal structure of society where men continue to take decisions in matters of family and personal disputes.Six states have a higher percentage of women litigants than the national average (10.3%). Andhra Pradesh tops the chart of such states with a figure of 16%, followed by Bihar and Punjab (15% each). Goa, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh each have 14% cases filed by women.Among larger states such as UP , MP , Maharashtra and Rajasthan, women litigants in lower courts account for 9.510.5% of total cases, almost close to the national average.
In states such as Haryana, Himachal, Jharkhand, Karnataka and West Bengal, cases filed by women in lower courts comprise around 12% of total cases.
Even states with higher per capita income, like Delhi and Gujarat, do not witness much litigation initiated by women. In fact, cases filed by women in these states are among the lowest in India. At 3.8%, Gujarat has the lowest with just 65,000 of the 17.26 lakh cases in the state being those filed by women. In Del hi, the percentage of such cases is 5% with about 30,000 of the 5.74 lakh cases pending filed by women.
Even in UP, which has one of the country's highest pendency , there is a higher percentage of (10.55%) cases filed by women. The total cases filed by women in UP is 6.31 lakh while the total pendency in its subordinates courts is 59.86 lakh.
Other states where few cases have been filed by women include Uttarakhand (4.8%), Kerala (7%), Odisha (7.6%) and J&K (7.75%). In northeastern states, the trend is similar to the national average where cases filed by women constitute 10%-13%.
Frivolous litigation
HC orders donation to Kerala relief fund
Ajay Sura, September 12, 2018: The Times of India
Judges of the country normally maintain a stiff demeanour to send the message that upholding fundamental rights of the people and the law of the land is serious business. But they harbour a soft core as well.
Judges of the Punjab and Haryana high court have been directing ‘erring’ litigants to deposit anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 50,000 towards the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund in the wake of the disastrous floods. This amount is imposed as cost of the litigation by the judges.
Till Tuesday, TOI accessed at least 80 orders where litigants were ordered to deposit money into the relief fund.
There have, of course, been individual cases in courts across the country where litigants have been asked to make deposits in the flood relief fund. But this is a rare where one court has told a large number of people to open their hearts and do a little philanthropy while disposing of cases.
In a recent order, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Krishan Murari had found a Barnala-based firm was misleading the court. To ensure the court is not burdened with frivolous litigation, the bench in its September 5 order, imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the firm and asked it to deposit the money in the relief fund.
“Asking litigants to deposit it for such a noble cause is a great gesture by the judges. This should inspire others to do the same,” said Vijender Singh Ahlawat, chairman of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana.
