‘Backlog of 3cr cases a scourge’

NEW DELHI: PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday talked tough by terming ��� for the first time in judicial history��� the 3 crore backlog of cases in courts as a ���scourge��� and promised that government would take two steps for each step taken by the judiciary in the war to eliminate this scourge.

The PM said that ���to wipe off every tear of litigants��� should be the goal of every one even as he applauded the great tradition and reputation enjoyed by judiciary in India. Singh, however, wondered why an accomplished judiciary had to be snail-paced in disposing of cases.

���Amidst such strengths, brilliance and dynamism (of the judiciary), India has to suffer the scourge of the world���s largest backlog of cases and timelines which generate surprise globally and concern at home,��� the PM said at a conference of CMs and chief justices. ���The expeditious elimination of this scourge is the biggest challenge for such conferences,��� Singh said and promised to match each step of the judiciary with two from government.

Aware that the backlog problem had remained more of an agenda item for years except for some symptomatic treatment meted out through judicial and legislative interventions, PM was in no mood to let the problem pass off as a good discussion point in a conference of this nature. Proposing a ���holistic and multipronged approach��� , the PM cautioned that mega plans might be drawn but it should be accompanied by practical solutions.

Asking SC to be role model as well as mentor, catalyst and organiser in this war against the scourge of pendency, Singh said, ���The government will not be found wanting at any level in this joint effort. We promise to match each step of judiciary with two of our own.��� Later, law minister Veerappa Moily and CJI K G Balakrishnan outlined a systematic approach government and judiciary was drafting to tackle the backlog.