In Rajasthan, to provide relief to the farming community waiting for quick justice in various revenue cases including transfer, partition, road dispute, declaratory claim, many innovative activities and effective steps from the Revenue Board level to improve the functioning of the Revenue Courts have changed the atmosphere of the Revenue Justice System of the state.
With the Revenue Board Chairman Shri Rajeshwar Singh taking over the responsibility of the Board, the effective steps taken by the Revenue Board level in the last three years to pass quality, error-free and completely legal decisions in the Revenue Courts of Rajasthan have seen relative improvement in decision writing and judicial process.
Lessons of judicial functioning given in decision writing workshops
Different level workshops were organized for officers from division level to subdivision level in the revenue courts subordinate to the Revenue Board level, in which in-depth discussions, ideological exchanges, technical sessions on the basic elements of decisions and legal provisions, rules and regulations were held, in which the presiding officers understood and learnt the basic aspects of the decision through subject experts.
Judgements tested through best judgement writing competitions
In order to check the quality of judicial cases passed every year through presiding officers, the best judgements were selected from the judgements passed by presiding officers and included in the best judgement writing competition in the Revenue Board. Various aspects of the judgements such as language, technique, evidence, error-freeness, proper legal basis, facts, quotations were tested by subject experts and selected for state, division and district level awards. In these three years, the concerned presiding officers were also honored with certificates and insignia in the state level function.
State level essay writing competition
Essay writing competitions of five categories were organized every year during three years at the divisional level to suggest qualitative improvements in the revenue rules and functioning of the courts. In these, writers from IAS, RAS, revenue officers/employees, advocates and common citizens category participated enthusiastically. Writers with long experience in writing provided useful suggestions. These works were also evaluated by a committee constituted at the Revenue Board level and after selecting the first, second and third positions in each category, they were also honored at the state level function at the Revenue Board level.
Guidance of the Board for improvement in judicial process
From time to time, circulars were issued to the subordinate revenue courts of the state to improve the judicial process from the Revenue Board level and guidelines were provided. In these circulars, punctuality, full compliance of rules and the basic elements of decision necessary for judicial case disposal were mentioned in detail. Similarly, in the event of summoning the files of the Board or subordinate revenue court for the purpose of police investigation, an effective process was also adopted to maintain the smooth functioning of the revenue courts.
Study of the functioning of other states
To make the functioning of the revenue courts in the state more robust, quick disposal of cases and improvement in the administrative structure, the judicial functioning of other states of the country was studied by nominating members from the Revenue Board level. Important proposals have been prepared and sent to the government on the basis of detailed reports prepared regarding the various level systems of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Odisha states such as court case management system, innovations related to improvement in administrative and judicial system, improvement in the quality of courts etc.
Registration of cases through GCMS
Under the Generalized Court Management System at the divisional level, a special facility has been provided to register revenue cases online through the GCMS portal, so that advocates can register cases using the internet from any place and forward them to the Revenue Board for registration.
E-summons and virtual hearing also proposed
An important action plan has been proposed to start the facility of e-summons from the GCMS portal at the divisional level. In this, online notices will be sent to the plaintiff and the defendant through the GCMS portal and their summon report will also be available online. This will save both time and labor and notices can be summoned in a completely safe manner in minimum time.
Similarly, it is proposed to provide the facility of virtual hearing through GCMS portal. With this facility, while preparing the cause list, video conferencing link (meeting ID) will be sent to the concerned advocate individually through mobile message or email for each case. By clicking on the link, it will be possible to hear the cases online by connecting the court, party and advocate through computer, laptop or smartphone.
