Chennai: About 1,266 lower courts are functioning in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry under the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. Thousands of people visit these courts daily for litigation. Apart from judges, lawyers and court staff who are part of the judiciary, inmates, witnesses, police, government officials and prosecutors also visit the courts on a daily basis.
Metropolitan Law Sessions Courts, Small Claims Courts, Family Welfare Courts, Anti-Corruption Courts, CBI Courts, Motor Vehicle Accident Tribunals, Narcotics Special Courts, POCSO Special Courts, Labor Welfare Tribunals under the control of the Madras High Court Complex under the jurisdiction of the Madras Principal Sessions Court. , more than 80 courts are functioning like Central Administrative Tribunal, District Law Commission and Conciliation Tribunals.
Apart from this, there are more than 10 courts including special courts that hear cases against MPs and MLAs in the District Collector’s office, M. Singharavelar House. Nearby is the Georgetown Court, which hears criminal cases. Further, criminal and law courts are also functioning in Egmore, Allikulam, Saidappettai, Alandur, Tambaram, Ambattur and Poontamalli.
As the judges in these lower courts ‘pass-over’ and hear cases on a priority basis, it is not possible to predict in advance which case will come up for hearing like in the High Court. Due to this, the court is filled with people from morning till evening for the hearing of the case.
That is, the criminal courts are crowded with the ever-increasing number of policemen with guns in every direction with the daily arraignment of inmates.
These courts do not have proper seating facilities or electric fans for litigants, witnesses, undertrials, women appearing for family welfare cases and their relatives to wait inside or outside the court.
As a result, there is the misery of waiting outside the courtroom for hours until the case is called for trial. Although benches are placed inside some courtrooms, litigants are not allowed to sit. Those seats are occupied by policemen and lawyers.
Advocate E. Ravi
As a result, litigants are forced to sit on the floor outside the courtroom. Sometimes even sitting on the floor is denied. Due to this, when the case of old people and women will come for trial, we have to feel sorry for ourselves.
In some courts benches are placed outside the court to accommodate the public who visit the court, but they are not enough. Like a musical chair competition, when will the person who is sitting in it get up and go… When will that seat be available to us, the situation of having to wait for hours and get a seat has happened to everyone, regardless of age.
This means that if a VIP attends a hearing, court staff and lawyers compete for seats. But common people are left with disappointment. This situation is painful in the courts that uphold justice. Worse than this, it happens to the policewomen who bring the undertrials from the jail to the court on a daily basis.
The police, who are sent to protect the undertrials and convicts with guns drawn, have to stand for hours in the courts. Due to this, the women policemen have to stand on their toes and work with dharma avasta without any way to avoid even natural calamities.
Regarding this, High Court lawyer E. Ravi says, “Only in Chennai High Court, separate seating facilities have been provided for public, litigants, government officials and policemen to sit. But other lower courts do not have these facilities.
A few courts are an exception to this. The law says that litigants, old people and women who visit the court should be provided with necessary facilities. Letting them stand outside the court for the whole day is also a form of punishment. Not only that, but also a lack of dignity.
Judicial officials are well aware of the fact that people appearing for trial are standing outside the courts for long periods of time, but they do not realize it. Many courts do not have proper drinking water facilities or clean toilet facilities.
If you go to the existing toilet, the stench is wafting. Therefore, the higher officials of the judicial department should come forward to provide basic facilities such as seats, fans and drinking water for the public, especially women, who visit the courts daily in all the lower courts. He said this. Will the judiciary find out..!.