Petition has been filed in Madras high court to expedite pending case
Madras high court
Chennai: A petition has been filed in the Madras high court seeking directions to create 15 new family courts to expedite pending cases. In the petition, R.Y. George Williams said unlike other courts, the functioning of family courts is totally different. They deal with disputes between married couples seeking divorce, maintenance, custody of children and other related issues. On several occasions, either the husband or wife reach the court along with their children and family members to appear before the courts.
Chennai houses four family courts, which are overcrowded and congested. As a result, litigants and advocates face trouble during the hearing. The number of original petitions filed in family courts had increase from 1,253 in 1988 to 5,050 in 2014, and it was 1,017 till March 2015. In the last four years, cases filed in the family court increased. However, the number of courts remained the same. Up to February 2015, the total number of pending cases in the four courts were 17,952.
Pendency of cases has been causing untold misery to the children, father and mother. Family courts were established to dispose of cases quickly. In several pending divorce cases, the children remained with either father or mother and were unable to meet the other parent to share love and affection.
A petition must be disposed of within six months of its being filed. Hence, he sought a direction to set up at least 15 new family courts in Chennai and more courts in other places in the state with adequate manpower.
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