NEW DELHI: A radical judicial reform is on the anvil — the government and the Supreme Court are actively considering a new judicial mechanism , courts of appeal — that will be set up to help clear the huge backlog of pending cases.The proposal moots that post hearings in district courts, appeals in all civil and criminal cases will be heard in the courts of appeal. These new courts will be placed higher than the district courts but below the high courts.High courts will only hear core constitutional matters. After a court of appeal verdict in a civil or criminal matter, a litigant can only appeal before the Supreme Court, not a high court.Since procedural and material costs of a Supreme Court appeal are quite high, the number of appeals to be filed in the top court after a verdict from court of appeals is expected to be low. Judges for these new courts will be recruited from among the “brighter members” of the cadre of district court judges as well as from the Bar.A number of courts of appeal is likley to be formed under the jurisdiction of each high court, and case disposal norms or targets may be set for these courts. Two Supreme Court judges represented the top court at the meeting.

Source: Economic Times August 07, 2017 19:24 UTC