Bar Council of A.P. appeals to Centre not to proceed with Evening Courts proposal

The Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh (BCAP) requested the Government of India not to proceed with the proposed establishment of Evening Courts and to take pro-active steps to achieve the stated objective, which is to reduce the huge load of cases pending disposal.

BCAP Secretary B. Padma Latha stated in a press release that the Centre should fill up all the posts of Presiding Officers in time as the vacancies were hampering the effective functioning of courts, provide sufficient infrastructure in the existing courts including the appointment of sufficient Staff, and increase the number of fast track courts.

She observed that the establishment of Evening Courts itself would not serve the purpose, rather cause inconvenience not only to the advocates but also to the litigant public. Besides, it would cause inconvenience to litigant public, especially for women to attend courts in evenings and travel back in the night.

It may be noted that the Central government proposed to set up Evening Courts in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi in coordination with the respective High Courts on a pilot basis, for which retired judges were planned to be engaged.

Under the arrangement, courts operating during the standard daytime hours, will extend their sittings into the evening to hear and clear pending matters. This is meant to reduce the massive backlog of cases pending in courts.