The tortuous Indian legal process

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, referred to the ‘black coat syndrome’, a fear of further complications in the pursuit of justice.
• The gruelling process of litigation, including endless adjournments, numerous appeals, and escalating legal costs, contributes to these delays.

Court Scheduling and Case Management
• Effective case management, including clear timelines for filing documents, conducting witness examinations, scheduling hearings, and limiting adjournments, is crucial.
• Without these, the court system struggles to move cases forward efficiently, exacerbating delays and frustrations faced by litigants.

Challenges in the District Judiciary
• Judges have a crucial role in enforcing case management timelines, but systemic pressures often compromise their ability to do so.
• Higher courts often impose deadlines without fully considering their impact on the overall scheduling in district courts, forcing district courts to allocate disproportionate resources to expedite certain cases.
• Judges are often not incentivised to adhere to these deadlines, often granting them beyond statutory deadlines.
• The performance evaluation system for judges, known as the units system, exacerbates these challenges.

Impact Down the Line
• Lawyers significantly impact court scheduling and case management, often leading to adjournments in some matters.
• The lack of predictability in case hearings exacerbates this issue.
• The tendency to extend stays and interim orders further diminishes the interest of lawyers in actively pursuing a case.
• The timing of testimonies often becomes unpredictable due to changes in the court schedule, adjournments, and procedural delays.

Need for Holistic Reform
• A holistic approach that goes beyond rules and timelines is needed to address court scheduling issues.
• Judges should be evaluated not just by the number of cases they dispose of but also by their ability to manage and resolve more complex cases within the prescribed timelines.
• Courts should implement predictable scheduling systems, introduce penalties for delays, and reward lawyers who adhere to schedules.
• Litigants should be discouraged from using stay orders and interim reliefs as delay tactics by making such orders temporary and subject to regular review.
• Technological solutions could enhance case management, providing real-time updates and the monitoring of timelines.