KATHMANDU, April 16: The Supreme Court (SC) has settled almost 30 percent of the filed cases in the last eight months of the current fiscal year. Officials at the Supreme Court say the number of cases to be settled by the end of the current fiscal year is likely to be higher than that of the last fiscal year.
In the last fiscal year, the SC had settled 32.94 percent of the total cases. However, with four months still left for the current fiscal year to end, the apex court has already settled 29.8 percent of cases.
A total of 21,173 cases which could not be settled in the last fiscal year were transferred to the current fiscal year. Similarly, the SC registered 6,756 new cases by mid-April in the current fiscal year, making the total number of unsettled cases 27,929. Of the total cases, the SC has settled 8,324 cases, which accounts for 29.8 percent of the total cases. There are still 19,605 cases pending at the SC, with just four months left in the current fiscal year.
Judge Bhandari finalizes 1,069 cases in a year
According to SC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Panthi, the apex court in an average issues verdicts on 70 to 100 cases on a daily basis. On Sunday, the SC had hearings of 308 cases, of which 67 cases were settled.
“We have aimed to settle as many cases as possible by the end of the fiscal year. By mid-April this year, the SC has already settled 1,558 more cases compared to what the SC settled in the corresponding period of last fiscal year,” Panthi told Republica.
According to SC officials, the extension of time period for hearings till 5 pm has increased the number of case settlement in the current fiscal year. Earlier, the hearings were done till 4 pm. Unlike in the past, the SC has now 19 justices including the chief justice. A few years ago, the SC had tough time settling cases as the posts of justices remained vacant for a long time.
“Similarly, we have come up with a block system, which means the cases are categorized based on their nature and dealt systematically. This has led to significant increase in case settlements,” Panthi said.
In the fiscal year 2015/16, the percentage of the settled cases was 31.78. However, in the fiscal year 2014/15, only 22.90 percent cases were settled. The SC's yearly trend shows that the number of case settlements has increased from the fiscal year 2015/16 onward.
