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Justice still eludes court case winners thanks to govt apathy
KATHMANDU, NOV 17 - Nearly half of the court verdicts remain non-implemented leaving most of the winners of these cases in the cold. They have no other option but to pursue the concerned authorities for implementation of the verdict. However, even then there is no guarantee that their efforts will bear fruit.
According to a Supreme Court report, out of 13,900 verdicts only 7,900 have been implemented so far. Even the Supreme Court’s verdicts fall among the decisions not implemented so far by the administration, police and other concerned authorities.
The three district courts in the Kathmandu Valley last year settled 1400 cases. Of these, only 714 verdicts have been implemented so far.
Legal experts have taken this seriously, putting the blame on lack of a follow-up mechanism and lengthy legal process. They have also suggested for a separate mechanism to implement court verdicts.
"In the first instance, it takes time to give decisions. In the second instance, the winner goes on suffering, as the verdicts are not implemented. This situation has led to erosion of people’s faith on the judiciary," complains advocate Yuba Raj Sangroula.
A severe example of such non-implementation of the court verdicts was the case of Safala Devi, who died last week while on her way to the Kavre District Court. She was visiting the court for implementation of a verdict delivered about 35 years ago, which ensured her right to her husband’s property.
Another advocate, Gandhi Pandit, suggests that the courts should initiate investigations into the non-implementation of the court verdicts. But he opines that the legal system is in urgent need of reforms.
Both the advocates agree that it is the responsibility of the executive to implement the court verdicts. "It is not the problem that the court alone can solve; for this a separate mechanism is needed," point out advocates Sangroula and Pandit.
Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena, spokesperson of the Supreme Court, has suggested a new mechanism to oversee the implementation of court verdicts. According to Timalsena, apathetic attitudes of the police, land revenue and survey department and other governmental agencies are responsible for not implementation of the court verdicts. Besides, budgetary crunch, unskilled manpower and physical infrastructure have been cited as reasons behind the problem.
"There should be a Tahasil office at the central level with branch offices at the district level to solve the problem," Dr Timalsena suggests.Posted on: 2003-11-16 08:59
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