Kochi: Courts across the country have started mediation proceedings as an attempt to speed up the litigation process, but owing to the delay in handing over court orders, the litigants have faced inconvenience. Acting CJ Ashok Bhushan now has asked all the court staff to issue proper court orders.
In a circular, Registrar-General S. Jagadees has asked all the private secretaries and personal assistants attached to the judges of Kerala High Court who are in charge of preparing the original judgments to append the attested copies of the settlement agreements to the final judgments.
Several advocates and their clients who participated in the adalats and mediation arranged in the courts had complained to the court regarding the delay in handing over judgments.
In most cases settled by mediation or adalats, the terms of settlement or awards were not appended to the final judgments.
Compared to other high courts, the disposal rate of Kerala High Court is higher. Recently the acting CJ had asked judges to clear the backlog and conduct special sittings, including full benches.
