On 9th February, I had the opportunity to visit the district court in Jalandhar. It was an insightful experience where I gained valuable knowledge about the legal system and court proceedings. This report aims to provide an overview of my visit and the observations made during my time at the district court.I was lucky enough to have an advocate let me know about the working and functionality of the court. He told us that around 35 judges are present in this district court whereas it may vary in different districts and how there are around 150 cases per month.
Since, stereotypically it is said that punjab has more drug cases than other states but when inquired, it was found out that this is not the case and drug cases are arising more from Delhi and nearby areas. While inquiring I was told how their are certain conditions that need to be met if a person wants to apply for a case in district court or any higher court. Cases like the ones of bail appeal are not filed in the district courts. One must put such appeal in higher courts. The basic jurisdiction like that of family disputes/wedding/local crime are handled by district courts only.
Also while looking into the jurisdiction and procedures of court I realised that there is no specified amount of time given to each case. The longevity of the case depends on its nature, filing of the case and mutual understanding of the parties in versus of each other. Usually it would take almost around 10 years to solve a single case filed on the succession or division of a land. There are also two types of plans: The action plan and second The five year plan. It also depends on which type of case is being dealt with. If it's a five year plan case then it'll be given dates every month whereas if the case belongs to the action plan, it'll be given more priority so as to resolve the case as soon as possible.
I was also able to get to know about one of such cases where it has been almost 10 years and the case still hasn't been resolved. The party has changed their lawyers multiple times and if one side of the party is not present on the given date then the date is extended without any proceedings in the case. Although the case is in priority list, still it takes a lot of time to solve it in the right way. It might be possible that things get heated out of the court room but inside the building of court and when this happens and if any sort of violence is included in such cases, the culprits are instantly charged with cases to prevent any such happenings. A number of policemen and guards are present in the building to prevent any such activity or situation where it might create a ruckus. The advocates too have personal policeman with them during the proceedings to prevent any kind of harm or violence.
I also observed that many toddlers were roaming around the place so I thought if inquiring about that too. According to the statement given by the speaker, he told how children aren't involved during the hearing procedure and working of the case so as to prevent the child's mental health. There is also a separate centre made for kids to be able to meet their parents during the procedures of custody and the adults must have permission so that the kids are not even near to any dangerous situation.
We all might be knowing some or the other things about the courts and jurisdiction of our country but this visit made me realise how much more lies ahead of us when we talk about our Indian law and judicial systems. Number of rules and regulations are followed even on district levels to provide the people with justified jurisdiction. So many different strategies and programmes are present to make case resolving easier and faster for people to serve justice as soon as possible. After this visit, I definitely have realized quite a lot of new things and learned a lot more about or judicial system.
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