Do not burden the system with frivolous cases, says CJI Misra

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra today deprecated the burdening of the judiciary with frivolous cases, saying one should approach court only when one feels "genuinely neglected".
Speaking at an event to celebrate the Legal Services Day here organised by National Legal Service Authority (NALSA), he hailed the high courts across the country for working on Saturdays and disposing of more than 2,100 criminal appeals, which were pending for over a decade.
"There were matters more than 10 years old and I had written to all the high courts to focus and to deal with criminal appeals which were more than 10 years old.

"I had requested the chief justices to work on Saturdays and list the matter of the legal aid lawyers and till today all the high courts put together have disposed of more than 2,100 criminal appeals on Saturdays," the CJI said.
Justice Misra, who shared the panel with Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, also said only genuine cases should be filed to ensure smooth functioning of the system.
"Do not file frivolous cases. Do not burden the system. When a man has a genuine case and when he feels genuinely neglected, he will file and a judge will adjudicate according to merits," he said.

The CJI also said that the motto of NALSA is to ensure that no man feels marginalised or underprivileged.

"Never feel that there are no people here to serve you. It's the motto of NALSA and others not to make a man feel that he is marginalised or underprivileged," Justice Misra said.
Prasad, who was the guest of honour at the event which recognised and rewarded the best para legal volunteers and state legal service authorities across the country, lauded the contribution of NALSA but said the work was still in progress.
"I compliment the NALSA movement but it is still a work in progress," he said, adding that para legal volunteers can be preachers of law only after adequate training.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court judge Ranjan Gogoi, who is also the Executive Chairman of NALSA, said the roaring GDP figures are of no use if they were not translated for the well being of underprivileged.
"It is a matter of grave concern that a significant number of people, deserving our reach, are not even aware of our existence. The challenges posed are literacy, social backwardness and natural inclination to suffer in this otherwise economically thriving country of ours are distressing.
"What is the use of roaring GDP figures if they are not being translated into practical well being of the underprivileged," Justice Gogoi asked.

Expressing a similar opinion, Supreme Court judge M B Lokur, also the chairman of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC), said there are large number of litigants who are unaware of such legal aid services.
He also focused on the need to make prisoners aware of their rights and make NALSA reach out to them as well.
"There are a very large number of litigants in the country, unaware of the fact they can avail services of legal aid.
"As an in-charge of the SCLSC, I found that many prisoners are unaware of their rights and recently we had a meeting of SCLSA which was also attended by Attorney General and it was decided that we need to reach out to the prisoners. We need to concentrate on this department a little more," he said.