Courts should work in shifts to help clear the backlog of more than 2.5 crore cases, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India suggested at the annual conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices here on Sunday.

In his inaugural address at Vigyan Bhavan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the most important issue before the judiciary was pending cases. He said the chief reason was there were not enough judges, therefore, high courts and state governments should together create and implement a time-bound programme to fill up the vacancies. He said judges should also consider working in shifts, if necessary.

Computerisation would also help, so the government had undertaken a massive exercise at the district and lower levels, he said. He also said the scheme for fast-track courts had been extended to 2010 and that states should speed up the paperwork to avail themselves of central funds for setting up more fast-track courts.

Singh said that the government was discussing with the Planning Commission a 10-year perspective plan for constructing more court buildings and houses for judges.

He said amendments to criminal law and procedure would deal with hostile witnesses, facilitate the use of modern techniques in investigation, and allow summary trial of crimes calling for jail terms of no more than three years.

Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, too, pointed out the shortage of judges: he said it would take an additional 1,500 high court judges and 18,000 subordinate judges to clear the national backlog of cases in a year. Citing Gujarat’s successful experiment with evening courts, he said the shift system for judges should be considered.

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