Report No. 14

15. State of work.-

The total number of suits instituted during the three financial years immediately preceding 1956-57 arranged according to valuation is set down in the following Table:

Table No. 3

Year	No. of suits of the value not exceeding Rs. 1000	No. of suits of the value of Rs. 1,000 and not exceeding Rs. 5,000	No. of suits of the value of the value of Rs. 5,000 and not exceeding Rs. 10,000	No. of suits of Value of Rs. 10,000 and above	No. of suits the value of which cannot be estimated in money
1953-54	24949	2028	161	182	1402
1954-55	24922	2098	248	138	1627
1955-56	25222	2111	218	146	1230

16. It will appear from the figures given in the above Table (Table No. 3) that the volume of original civil litigation in the courts of district judges, civil judges and subordinate judges was not high. The following Tables (Tables 4 and 5) show the disposal of work by these officers during the same period. It will appear from these tables that the arrears in these courts are not heavy because the institutions of the different categories of proceedings are comparatively small.

Though the state of work in the District and Subordinate Judges courts is not as satisfactory as the position in the munsifs courts, an increase in their number does not appear to be necessary. If the institutions do not increase, with better supervision, the existing strength of officers should be able to keep pace with the work.

17. At the lowest rung in the hierarchy of civil courts are courts of munsifs exercising pecuniary jurisdiction upto Rs. 3,000. Their small cause jurisdiction is limited to Rs. 100. Ever since the judiciary was completely separated from the executive on the Madras pattern on 1st June, 1956, the munsifs have been doing criminal work also. Even prior to that date some munsifs exercised the powers of magistrates. The accompanying Table No. 6 shows the disposal of civil work by the munsifs during the three financial years preceding 1956-57. Table No. 7 shows the average number of suits available for disposal, the average disposal and the average number of pending suits per munsif per year. The figures appearing in these Tables would seem to show that the work in these courts is under control.

The number of year old suits in the courts of munsifs is gratifyingly low. An enhancement of small cause powers of munsifs to Rs. 500 will help them to dispose of proceedings more quickly. It was stated to us however that the munsifs were generally inclined to postpone the trial of suits till cases were about to become a year old. Piecemeal hearings were also said to be common. We are of the view that a resumption of the rigid system of supervision which was said to be in force some years ago and which is said to have yielded gratifying results should be reintroduced-and day to day hearings insisted upon.

Table 4

District Judges

		Original Suits						Small Cause Suits
Year	No. of Officers	Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions		Disposal	Balance		Pending at the beginning of the year		Institutions	Disposal	Balance
1953-54	6	383	321		290	213	201	119		537	442	214	..
1954-55	6	414	190		210	165	229	214		291	396	109	..
1955-56	6	394	232		169	198	259	109		97	206	..	..
Miscellaneous Cases					Regular Appeals					Miscellaneous Appeals
Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance		Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance		Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance
			Below one year	Over one year				Below one year	Over one year				Below one year	Over one year
439	1249	1127	504	57	413	231	274	310	60	58	118	108	65	3
561	626	793	318	76	37	295	208	402	55	68	106	116	54	4
394	729	664	350	107	457	213	156	391	123	58	126	102	81	1

Table 5

Session Judges and Assistant Sessions Judges

		Session Cases					Criminal Appeals
Year	No. of Officers	Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance		Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance
					Below one year	Over one year				Below one year	Over one year
1953-54	10	45	168	173	40	..	108	577	573	112	..
1954-55	10	40	147	154	33	..	112	480	404	184	..
1955-56	10	33	171	158	46	..	184	634	624	194	..

Criminal Revision					Case under I.P.C. and other Cases
Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance		Pending at the beginning of the year	Institutions	Disposal	Balance
			Below one year	Over one year				Below one year	Over one year
19	92	91	20	..	..	..	..	..	..
20	85	58	47	..	..	..	..	..	..
47	119	111	55	...	..	..	..	..	..

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