The findings corroborate the widely-held belief that litigants lose both money and time once they approach courts with the average case pendency going to more than three years minimum. Even of those cases which are listed, almost half are summarily adjourned either for non-availability of a judge, advocate or witnesses.An overwhelming majority, about 91%, of the surveyed respondents said they had never filed a police complaint, and those who eventually filed a police complaint very few actually pursued it. Of those who did not file a complaint, 56% said they were dissuaded by family members while in 22% cases it was the police which 'advised' them not to file a police complaint.Those who approached the courts had to incur huge costs. The survey said, the poor, those with Rs 50,000 annual income, spent over 10 days worth of their income per day on courts and about 5.5 days income per day on non-court proceedings. Those in the age group of 18-30 years comprised of 27%, thus covering the target group that normally is involved in disputes.

Source: Times of India November 23, 2017 20:37 UTC