LITIGATION: INSURMOUNTABLE PROBLEMS BEFORE NORMALCY

The Authors of this blog are Mr. Rajat Aneja and Mrs. Vandana Aneja, Advocates of Law Firm 'Aneja & Aneja Advoctes.

The prevalent times of this menacing pandemic have tested our talent in peculiar ways. We now possess an uncanny ability to rediscover ourselves, with all the time in the world at our disposal, and to ponder over what we can do best, something we could not have even envisaged all these years.

However, a flip side to it, though temporarily faded out, as to how would we get into the mainstream after this ailing menace decides to recede for good. Would it be an abrupt transition or a gradual phase to get into our regular mould? Would normalcy ever return? Well, the answer is not far to seek; it looks apparent that normalcy would be a casualty, at least for a considerable period.

While it is often said that we, as humans, possess a short-lived memory and time makes us forget things quickly, yet it remains to be seen whether we, in the times to come, would be able to compromise our health/safety standards, given the ill-effects of the magnitude of this Covid evil. The answer appears to be in the negative, and which would imply that we would be extremely conservative about the normal life we used to lead and will not take any chances risking it. Our day-to-day life would undergo a change, at least till the time, a trusted vaccine is developed to combat this deadly malady, which doesn’t appear to be on the horizon before the conclusion of this calendar year, though there are promising claims made to the contrary by leading researchers across the globe, nonetheless, the easy access, availability and cost factor of such a vaccine wouldn’t make it an easy bargain.

Resultantly, the new norm which may emerge would be to maintain a tight vigil and desist everyone from indulging into any act/activity which may result in a health hazard. The new normal would lead us to largely being unsocial and avoid crowded places.

What would be its impact on the judicial dispensation system? Well, as we all know, the courts of our country are flooded with piling cases, compounded by the huge rush witnessed in the courts daily. Every litigant wants to have his/her dispute resolved at the earliest but given the acute scarcity in the bench strength of judges, the cases keep on multiplying to come apart at the seams. The prevalent situation would, however, trigger it to detrimental proportions.

As we are aware, we have already lost a precious amount of time because of the pandemic, and by the time the courts start functioning under restricted schedules, the numbers will continue to pile up putting a lot of strain on the system. Will the courts be able to withstand the pressure? After all, as we know, the more the work pressure, the more we tend to lack efficiency and become more prone to falter. Thus, measures would have to be undertaken to deal with the situation, but how? Already, there are binding judgments of the Apex Court, pronounced more than once, that require cases of more than 10-15 years old to be adjudicated within a time-bound period by the subordinate Courts. To add to it, there would be a whole new stream of cases (owing to this pandemic) which would flood the courts, as we have already witnessed a monumental loss to the economy, and an irreparable dent caused to various sections of the society, particularly the vulnerable ones, which would eventually have a cascading effect leading to a multitude of disputes arising.

Thus, the task is ominous. Not only for the courts but also for those who form an indispensable part of the same fraternity, the lawyers. The proactive role would have to be played by lawyers to overcome these insurmountable problems; their responsibility levels would come under a crucial test. They would have to strictly adhere to the new mechanism which, sooner or later, would govern the fresh (albeit restricted) style of functioning.

Before we part, we may, however, add a word of caution. The solution to the problem, though appears to lie in cancellation or squeezing of court vacations, or enhanced court timings, yet we may not lose sight of its ill-effects too, the foremost being jeopardized work quality, be it of lawyers or judges. So, a need for the right kind of balance to be evolved cannot be overemphasized.

Besides the need to continue to dynamically work towards the evolution of new concepts in law, without giving up the insatiable the enthusiasm which one may have, yet there may be a larger pandemic waiting to spread its tentacles that need to be addressed.