Content

1. The lower judiciary — litigation, pendency, stagnation
2. India–Africa Relations: Ten Years After IAFS-III 

The lower judiciary — litigation, pendency, stagnation

Why in News?

• Constitution Bench led by the CJI linked massive pendency (4.69 crore cases in district courts) to stagnation in subordinate judiciary.
• Another SC Bench flagged poor basic knowledge among Delhi judges and ordered training.
• Debate revived on structural reforms, procedural simplification, and judicial capacity-building.

Relevance

• GS-II (Polity & Governance): Judicial reforms, pendency, subordinate courts, Article 233–235, access to justice.
• GS-II (Welfare & Governance): Impact of procedural delays on citizens, rule of law.
• GS-II (Judiciary): Capacity-building, training, structural reforms, case management.

Practice Questions

• Discuss the structural and procedural causes of pendency in India’s subordinate judiciary. Suggest reforms to improve trial court efficiency.(250 Words)

Basics: Structure of Subordinate Judiciary

• Three tiers: District Judges → Senior Civil Judges → Civil Judges (Junior Division).
• Governance: Appointments and service conditions under Art. 233–235, controlled by High Courts.
• Workload: Handle 85–90% of India’s total caseload; first point of citizen–justice interface.
• Pendency drivers: Delays in summons, adjournments, procedural complexity, understaffing, lack of training.

Core Problem 1: Ministerial Work Consumes Judicial Time

• Subordinate judges forced to:
  • Call cases for appearance
  • Issue/reissue summons
  • Receive vakalatnamas, written statements
• Morning session (10:30 AM–12 PM) consumed by clerical duties → little time left for hearing matters on merits.
• Quality judicial hours lost daily → slows trials and judgments.

Proposed Reform

• Appoint a ministerial judicial officer (lowest rank) per district:
  • Handles clerical/administrative tasks full day
  • Records ex-parte evidence, issues summons, receives filings
  • Prepares next-day cause list for each court; publish online
• Actual courts start trial work at 10:30 AM → improves output and judgments.

Core Problem 2: Declining Quality of Subordinate Judges

• Earlier: District munsifs/magistrates selected from lawyers with 10+ years of mentorship & practice.
• Now: Fresh graduates with no court experience → struggle with drafting orders, managing courtroom.
• SC noted “lack of basic knowledge” → ordered mandatory training for Delhi judges.

Proposed Reform

• Mandatory few-month training at High Court Benches:
  • Observe hearings, order-writing, argument structure
  • Learn judgment reading & case management culture
• Raises competence, reduces poor orders, cuts unnecessary appeals.

Core Problem 3: Statutory Provisions Increasing, Not Reducing, Pendency

(a) Commercial Courts Act – Section 12A (Pre-suit Mediation)

• Mandatory mediation before filing commercial suits (Patil Automation, 2022).
• Business disputes already involve pre-litigation notice → mandatory mediation adds delay.
• Suit filing gets blocked → increases pendency.

(b) Marriage Laws – 6-Month Cooling-off

• Couples wanting quick mutual consent divorce are forced to wait, unless court waives period.
• Many courts don’t waive → false declarations about “one-year separation” → more litigation.

(c) New Rent Act Confusion

• Conflicting rulings on whether rent court has jurisdiction without registered lease.
• Same facts → civil court/commercial court jurisdiction, but not rent court.
• Result: Forum confusion and fresh filings → pendency rises.

Core Problem 4: Archaic & Complex Procedural Law (CPC)

Key flaws

• Preliminary & final decree system in partition suits → doubles litigation.
• Execution proceedings (Order XXI – 106 rules) highly technical → tools for delaying decree implementation.
• Order VIII Rule 1 (90-day limit on written statement):
  • Rigid for title suits; does not speed disposal.
  • Leads to poorly drafted pleadings, not faster justice.

Needed Reforms

• Merge preliminary–final decrees; make final decree automatic.
• Simplify execution proceedings; introduce fast-track enforcement.
• Introduce asset disclosure at framing of issues → speeds recovery.
• Modernise procedural law designed for 1908 litigation realities.

Core Problem 5: Higher Judiciary’s Role

• Pendency not just a trial court issue—appellate delays also cause stagnation.
• Need:
  • Faster disposal of appeals
  • Stricter adjournment norms
  • Monitoring of High Court case management

Way Forward

• Create ministerial courts for summons/filings.
• Recruit experienced lawyers as trial judges (reverse current trend).
• Mandatory High Court bench exposure for new judges.
• Overhaul procedural law (CPC, Rent Act, Commercial Courts Act).
• Fast-track execution of decrees & arbitration awards.
• Digital cause-lists, e-summons, video evidence recording.
• Increase judge-to-population ratio (India: ~21 judges per million; global avg: 50+).
• Fill vacancies quickly; periodic performance reviews.

India–Africa Relations: Ten Years After IAFS-III

Why is it in News?

• A decade has passed since India hosted IAFS-III in 2015, the last India–Africa Forum Summit attended by all 54 African states.
• India has since expanded missions, investments, and diplomatic engagement, but the IAFS mechanism has not reconvened.
• Strategic review needed as Africa gains demographic, economic, and geopolitical weight; India–Africa ties entering new competitive and opportunity-rich phase.

Relevance

• GS-II (International Relations): India–Africa partnership, South–South cooperation, diplomacy.
• GS-II (Global Governance): AU in G20, India’s role in multilateral forums.
• GS-III (Economy): Trade, investments, digital corridor, AfCFTA.
• GS-III (Security): Maritime cooperation, Indo-Pacific, anti-piracy.

Practice Questions

• IAFS has not met since 2015. Critically analyse the implications for India’s long-term Africa strategy.(250 Words)

Basics: India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS)

• Institutional platform for structured India–Africa partnership.
• Held in 2008 (Delhi), 2011 (Addis Ababa), 2015 (Delhi).
• Themes: capacity building, grants, Lines of Credit (LoCs), training, education, agriculture, energy, digital connectivity.

Status of India–Africa Engagement Since 2015

Diplomatic Expansion

• 17 new Indian missions opened across Africa.
• India supports African Union’s global role → key in securing AU’s full G20 membership.

Economic Links

• Trade crossed $100 bn.
• Cumulative investments: $75 bn, placing India among Africa’s top five investors.
• Shift from resource-led projects to co-creation: ports, grids, vaccines, digital tools.

Strategic & Maritime Cooperation

• 2025: First Africa–India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME) with nine African navies.
• Focus on Indo-Pacific, anti-piracy, maritime domain awareness.

Development Partnerships

• EXIM Bank extended $40 mn line of credit to ECOWAS Bank → signalling support for African-led development.
• Knowledge partnerships strengthened (ITEC, ICCR, Pan-African e-Network).

Education & People-to-People

• IIT Madras Zanzibar campus → first offshore IIT.
• 40,000 Africans trained in India in the last decade.
• African students, athletes, researchers increasingly visible in India → reciprocal people-to-people linkages.

Opportunities: The Growth Corridor

• By 2050: 1 in 4 humans will be African, while India becomes the 3rd largest economy.
• Complementary strengths:
  • Africa’s demography + India’s technology
  • Africa’s markets + India’s industry
  • Shared colonial history + Global South leadership
• AfCFTA is creating a single African market → opportunities for Indian manufacturing and digital finance.

Challenges

• India lags behind China in trade volume and infrastructure presence.
• Indian firms face:
  • Small balance sheets
  • Slow execution
  • Policy uncertainty
  • Bureaucratic delays
• Africa’s innovation hubs (Kigali, Nairobi, Lagos) face intense global competition → India must move faster.

Sectoral Priorities for the Next Decade

1. Co-invest in Future Sectors

• Green hydrogen
• Electric mobility
• Digital public infrastructure
• Vaccine & pharma manufacturing
• Agritech & food processing

2. Build an India–Africa Digital Corridor

• Combine India Stack/UPI with Africa’s mobile-first digital ecosystems.
• Joint platforms for:
  • Tele-education
  • Tele-health
  • Payments
  • Government services

3. Strengthen Institutional Mechanisms

• Revive IAFS-IV to reset long-term agenda.
• Annual ministerial consultations, thematic working groups (health, digital, energy).

India’s Competitive Advantage

• Historical goodwill; no colonial baggage.
• Affordable technology and capacity-building model.
• Strong diaspora links and educational exchanges.
• Soft power: Bollywood, cricket, yoga, healthcare.

Core Strategic Logic

• Africa’s rise is inevitable; India’s rise is ongoing → convergence creates a South–South Growth Corridor.
• India–Africa partnership must shift from donor–recipient to co-creation and co-investment.
• Delivery, not mere announcements, will define the next phase.