Chief justice suggests out-of-court settlement of cases

Expressing concern over the increasing backlog of cases in courts and the slow rate of disposal, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan Monday said lawyers could try to settle most of the cases outside courts "as the present establishment cannot cope up".

Inaugurating the Hindi website and annual report 2006 of the district courts of Delhi, the Chief Justice of India said: "The reason for the increasing number of cases is attributed to the fact that the legal fraternity brings all cases to the court. An effort should be made by the lawyers to settle most of the cases outside the courts as the present establishment cannot cope up with the pendency."

According to the annual report 2006, more than 770,310 cases are pending in the district courts of Delhi.

Balakrishnan stressed the need for specialised courts, especially courts pertaining to family matters, but admitted that the disposable rate of cases in 2006 has declined as compared to 2005.

"In India, the judiciary is not well remunerated and there is an urgent need to have better infrastructure to cope up with the increasing work pressure," he said.

Chief Justice of Delhi High Court M.K. Sarma, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Anil Kumar along with other judges were present at the function.

"With the first phase of computerization over in the district courts, we are now aiming to bring changes like introduction of digital signatures, SMS services for lawyers and litigants and installation of CCTVs in the courts," said the chief justice of the Delhi High Court.

The number of cases filed in the courts in 2006 was 76,000 more than in 2005.

Only 279 cases were disposed in 2006.

Companies raise capital in the stock market on the basis of valid incorporation

Companies raise capital in the stock market on the basis of valid incorporation under the Companies Act, 1956, compliance with the Rules/Regulations under the Companies Act, 1956 and the SEBI Act, 1992, listing agreements with the Stock Exchange concerned and subject to the Guidelines and Regulation of SEBI as the Capital market regulator. As such, no instances of fake companies have come to notice in the stock market in the last two years.

The details of the efforts made by the Government for the protection of small investors in the stock market are as under:

The enactment of the SEBI Act, 1992 for setting up of SEBI to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market and related matters;

Setting up of an Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) by an amendment enacted in 1999, in the Companies Act, 1956, by addition of Section 205(C) in the Act, for promotion of investors’ awareness and protection of their interests;

Setting up of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Company Affairs to investigate cases of corporate fraud and to prosecute such Directors and Officers of the company who may have conducted the affairs of the company in a fraudulent manner detrimental to, inter alia, the interest of investors.

Implementation of MCA 21, the e-governance programme of the Ministry of Company Affairs, under which disclosures made through documents filed by the companies as required by statute are available for viewing in electronic form, on-line, on round the clock basis to stakeholders on payment of prescribed fees. This initiative is aimed at ensuring enhanced transparency as to the management, governance and financial affairs of companies, thereby enabling protection of the interest of investors/stakeholders.

This information was given by Shri Prem Chand Gupta, Minister of Company Affairs in reply to the questions raised by Smt. Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha today.