The 19th century British Prime Minister Ewart Gladstone famously said, 'Delayed justice is equal to no justice.' Ewart's expression is still relevant in Nepali society, which is suffering from the problem of not getting justice quickly.

In the background of the incident that shocked the entire country on Wednesday, the delay in the case has also been added. The branch officer decided the verdict himself by exercising the jurisdiction of the bench, so the process of punishing him as per law has already started. However, the case against Resham has not been heard for two years. 

A writ was filed in the Supreme Court on 16 June 2080, the day after the president granted amnesty to Resham. It has been dated 12 times in about two years and paid six times. A show cause order has been issued only for the sixth time in a writ that has not been sent to be seen five times in a row. The last time the court was not able to sit on the day of the appointment last January, the next appointment is scheduled for June 10. 

Moreover, the term of office of Hitendradev Shakya, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, ended without a hearing against the government's decision to dismiss him. On the other hand, when the tenure of another executive director, Kulman Ghising, was also about to end, the Supreme Court ordered that no interim order could be given in the decision to dismiss Ghising, as the writ filed by Shakya had not been resolved at that time. The hearing of the writ of the first term of Shakya, who has started his second term as executive director, is scheduled for next June. 

Kantipur team met Bishnumaya Pandey of Kaski in the Supreme Court in the third week of March, who has been going to court for 12 years for the justice of her murdered son. She has been coming to the Supreme Court for the last three years who does not come to read simple articles. Dates have been set 12 times in his case, which was registered in the Supreme Court on May 20, 2079.

has happened only 5 times in this period. Vishnumayas are crying because of the extreme delay in the supreme body of justice administration because 26 thousand 228 cases are pending in the Supreme Court alone. Similarly, it is mentioned in the Supreme Court's annual report that 25 thousand 539 cases are pending in the high court and 18 thousand 832 cases in the district. 

In recent years, despite the increase in the speed of disposal of cases, 170 thousand 599 cases remained. With remaining and new additions, about 500,000 cases have started reaching the courts at all levels. In the last financial year 2081/82 alone, there were 42 thousand 917 in the Supreme Court. Out of that, 16 thousand 689 were dismissed which is the highest decision rate so far. 

But 10 years ago in the financial year 2071/72, there were 24 thousand 735 cases in the Supreme Court and 5 thousand 946 were dismissed. The condition of high school and district also looks the same compared to 10 years ago. Last year, there were a total of 84,533 cases in the High Courts, of which 59,198 were disposed of. This year, for the first time, cases that have exceeded 5 years have been completed. There are only 84 cases that are more than 2 years old. 10 years ago, there were a total of 41 thousand 852 cases in the high court and 29 thousand 70 decisions were made. 

Last year, there were a total of 365 thousand 387 cases in all district courts, out of which 286 thousand 555 cases were dismissed. 10 years ago, there were a total of 110,629 cases filed in district courts at all levels and 68,48 cases were dismissed. In the experience of jurists, even though the rate of judgment has taken a huge leap in the span of a decade, the backlog of cases has increased the work pressure in the courts.

"In the course of a decade, the courts of Nepal have improved a lot, the number of people who read and write has increased rapidly, quality judgments have been made, but due to the pressure of closing cases, the right of citizens to get justice in time is shrinking," says senior advocate Surendra Bhandari. Judgments have also started to accelerate in the district and appellate courts. 

Bhandari concludes that even though the cases ranging from robbery to assault and from land to polygamy are filed in the Supreme Court, the problem is more in the courts of the last level. "Not all cases should be taken to the Supreme Court, minor and medium-sized cases that carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years should be decided by the higher court, otherwise the case that could be stopped in the Supreme Court will be lost," he says. Former Chief Justice Harikrishna Karki has analyzed the fact that the case does not come up for years and the case is not settled.

"The number of cases in the court has increased, but the manpower has not been able to reach it, especially in the Supreme Court, this is a problem," says Karki, "because of this, it seems that general frustration has increased due to not getting justice on time."

The posts of 4 judges in the Supreme Court have been vacant for a long time. As the number of judges decreases and the number of cases increases, the problem is bound to arise. The second reason is that any case comes before the Supreme Court. If it is possible to change it and create a situation where only selected cases come to the Supreme Court, it can do well. This problem will also be reduced by amending the law and arranging for some cases to be decided by the higher authorities.' 

He says that once the court has ordered, if the related organization, state agency or person does not comply, the case returns to the court. If the court order was implemented by the concerned parties, there would be no case again. However, its implementation has not been much, which leads to the issue again. That is why the cases are increasing.

Similarly, there is a practice of taking arbitrary writs to the court saying that it is a matter of public concern. Because of this, the Supreme Court is 'overloaded' with the pressure of cases,'' he says. 

' The structure of the Justice Council should be reviewed'

- Harikrishna Karki, former Chief Justice

The Supreme Court decided the most cases last year, but compared to the past 10 years, the number of pending cases has increased. What is the reason for the increase in the number of cases in the Supreme Court?

We are not able to appoint judges to the Supreme Court on time. If the appointed number of judges are fully formed and the bench is full, a result can be reached. However, the posts of 4 judges in the Supreme Court have been vacant for a long time. As the number of judges decreases and the number of cases increases, the problem is bound to arise. The second reason is that any case comes before the Supreme Court. If it is possible to change it and create a situation where only selected cases come to the Supreme Court, it can do well. By amending the law and arranging for some cases to be decided by the higher authorities, this problem will be reduced. Thirdly, various situations are also creating issues. Like, once the court ordered, if the concerned organization, state agency or person complied with it, there would be no case again. However, its implementation has not been much, which leads to the issue again. That is why the cases are increasing. Similarly, there is a practice of taking arbitrary writs to the court saying that it is a matter of public concern. Because of this, the Supreme Court is 'overloaded' with the pressure of cases. 

It was expected that the case would be decided a little faster after the shelling, and it would be improved. Is this the reason for the improvements that have been made now? After the

was taken to Golapratha, it seems that the speed of the case has increased. If we look at the annual report, we can see progress in the sales rate. However, the issue is not that the rate of sale will increase only because of the shell system. There is a demand for speedy justice from all sides. At this time, a campaign has been started in the court for this. It is supposed to bring the cases that have been cut for five years to zero after it started. It is giving good results. The five-year strategic plan also says to reduce the number of cases. The

annual event also has it. A different case management system called 'Different Case Management' has been implemented in the District and High Courts. Similarly, the court plans to dispose of a case within 6 months, one year and one and a half years. It has also helped greatly in reducing the number of cases. However, the biggest challenge is at the highest level.