[Breaking] Kerala High Court lays down uniform procedure for expeditious disposal of Family Court cases

In a significant ruling, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday issued comprehensive directions to put in place a uniform procedure for the expeditious disposal of cases before Family Courts..A Bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and CS Dias passed the judgment in a batch of petitions raising concerns over the difficulties faced by litigants owing to the inordinate delay in the disposal of cases by Family Courts in Kerala. .Acknowledging the petitioners' grievances, the Bench observed,"The parties who approach the Family Courts with their grievances, with a hope to get speedy justice, very soon realise that their problems burgeon, cases multiply, and their ordeal unabatedly continues due to the adversarial nature and circumstances surrounding the litigation.".Kerala, with 3% of the country's population, is one of the states with the most matrimonial cases, the Bench noted. As per the National Judicial Data Grid, a staggering 1,04,015 cases are pending in the 28 Family Courts across the State, the Court added.."This data is alarming and if at all not shocking; it speaks about the disintegration of the family culture and the anomie our society is facing. We had a structured society in the past where everyone held hands to resolve such conflicts," the Court said..On finding that the procedure followed by Family Courts is not working well, the Sensitization Committee of the High Court chaired by Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar was alerted. A virtual meeting of the Committee with the Presiding Officers of Family Courts was also convened. .Upon attending the meeting, the Bench observed,"We could feel the stress and pressure of the Presiding Officers of the Family Courts who are burdened with a huge backlog. Some of the Family Courts are compelled to board more than 200 cases a day in an attempt to clear the arrears. The delay in disposal of the cases has resulted in large number of interlocutory applications being filed on day-to-day basis. We apprehend that the backlog is leading to a collapse of justice delivery system, which stands portrayed in the large number of original petitions being filed before this Court seeking for the speedy disposal of the proceedings.".Reports were also sought from Presiding Officers of Family Courts with a view to streamlining a uniform procedure for the disposal of cases pending before Family Courts. Upon perusing the report, particularly statistics concerning the "backlog of 5 year plus cases", the Court has now issued various procedural directions for Family Court cases. .The Court clarified that the directions are illustrative in nature and should be scrupulously followed by Family Courts. .The directions on the procedure to be followed in Family Court cases include:.Activation of the "CMO" roleNotifying the "Chief Ministerial Officer" (CMO) to be activated by all Presiding Officers of Family Courts. The Kerala Civil Courts (Case Flow Management) Rules, 2015 enables the courts to authorise any officer to exercise the power of the Chief Ministerial Officer of the Court.The CMO shall fix the date for appearance of the respondent(s). On the appearance of the respondent(s), the parties will be referred for counselling, which shall be in consultation with the Presiding Officer.The CMO shall fix specified timings for counselling between the parties and allot the matter to the concerned counsellor. The counsellor shall, on a daily basis, submit a report of each day's work to the CMO. A cap of a maximum 10 cases in a day shall be fixed for each counsellor.When a case is presented before the CMO, he/she shall insist that the parties file a memo furnishing the details of the connected cases between the same parties pending before the Court. If such details are furnished, the CMO shall tag the cases.The CMO shall post uncontested cases and cases where the respondent(s) remain absent immediately before the Court. The CMO shall post joint petitions filed for divorce by mutual consent before the Court, if the parties fulfil the conditions laid down by the Honourable Supreme Court in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur.Only suits or proceedings filed for decrees of nullity, dissolution of marriages, judicial separation, restitution of conjugal rights, maintenance, guardianship, custody and access to minors need be referred for counselling, unless otherwise directed or felt necessary by the Presiding Officer.Cases fit for mediation at first instance: In suits or proceedings for declaration as to validity of marriage, property, injunction and legitimacy of a person etc, the CMO shall refer the parties directly to mediation.If parties are referred for counselling and the dispute does not get settled, the CMO shall call for a meeting of the parties and fix a date for referring the parties to mediation. The CMO shall also fix a date for the report of mediator, with an outer time frame of 60 days after obtaining a formal order from the court. Further time can be extended only in accordance with Rule 19 of the Civil Procedure (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Rules, 2008.In cases where the mediation proceeding is unsuccessful, then the CMO shall call for a meeting of the parties and fix the date of hearing of the proceeding in court.The CMO shall adhere to the time prescribed in accordance with the Case Flow Management Rules, 2015. The CMO shall, in consultation with the Presiding Officer, fix a timeframe in accordance with the Case Flow Management Rules, to dispose of the case.If the cases are jointly tried, all such cases shall be disposed of within the time as specified for highest track. However, taking note of huge pendency of cases, the High Court has permitted the Family Courts to fix the date and period for disposal of freshly instituted proceedings after reckoning the period required for disposal of the pending matters. The dates shall be fixed after the appearance of both sides and in consultation with both parties. Lawyer(s) or authorized representatives shall be allowed to appear before the CMO..Several guidelines have also been issued on how counselling is to be carried out, the timeframe for the same etc..On the role of Presiding Officers of Family CourtsJudicial time is wasted for roll calls. Since CMOs are to be activated now to deal with routine matters regarding posting, reference to mediation, counselling etc., the Presiding Officers of the Family Courts shall bestow their attention only on matters where the courts have to pass judicial orders. The Family Courts, in normal circumstances, are directed to only list the following matters namely, (a) execution proceedings, (b) interlocutory applications where urgent orders are required, (c) cases listed for trial and hearing in the special list.On the day of listing, as envisaged under Section 9 of the Family Courts Act, the Presiding Officer shall make an endeavour to persuade the parties to arrive at a settlement, failing which the court shall proceed with the trial on day to day basis. It would be appropriate that the Presiding Officer interacts with the parties in chambers before the commencement of trial or at least during the course of the trial..Other directionsFamily Courts shall implement the special list system followed in the civil courts. Cases which are ripe for trial shall be included in the list in accordance with the seniority as on the date of institution of the case. A minimum of 2-4 cases shall be listed for trial in a day and 2-4 cases will be listed for final arguments. The CMO shall fix the date for trial of pending cases ripe for trial in advance, with the approval of the Presiding Officer.Family Courts shall make every endeavour to dispose of execution petitions, if there is no stay from superior courts, within the time provided for disposal of such cases in the Case Flow Management Rules.The procedure for execution of maintenance orders, other than the orders passed under Chapter IX of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) read with Sub-Section (2) of Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, shall be done as expeditiously as possible in accordance with the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure.Criminal Execution Petitions: Execution petitions filed for enforcement of orders passed under Chapter IX of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Sub-Section (2) of Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, need not be called in court, unless hearing and judicial orders are required. Courts shall take necessary steps for the expeditious disposal of such applications, if no valid defence is raised.A procedure has been laid down for the payment of maintenance through bank accounts as well as in matters concerning the interim custody of children. Necessary directions shall be issued by the Presiding Officer to appoint Nodal Officers in Revenue and Police Departments under the control of the District Collector and District Police Chief respectively, to monitor the execution of arrest warrants and distress warrants in execution of orders passed under Chapter IX of the CrPCOn the subject of interim orders, the High Court noted that there are several interim orders passed by the Family Courts "having the effect of the final orders/judgments, especially in matters relating to custody and visitation rights of children." The Court has cautioned that the purpose of passing an interim order is, inter alia, to restrain property from being wasted/damaged/alienated or to preserve the subject matter or to enforce one’s rights or to discharge the other’s obligation relating to dispute pending final adjudication.It would be appropriate that all interlocutory applications are disposed within four weeks after appearance of the parties. If not, specific reasons shall be stated.As for the nature of proceedings to be followed to record oral evidence, the High Court has detailed procedures with respect to appointment of Advocate Commissioner, filing of applications to record evidence through video conferencing, consolidation and joint trial once a matter is ripe for trial etc. Presiding Officers are to take immediate steps to to refer all pending cases to mediation, if not referred so far. All other pending cases shall be listed for trial only in accordance with their seniority as on the date of institution of the proceeding and keeping in mind the volume of pending cases.It would be appropriate for the Family Courts to convene Lok Adalats in consultation with District Legal Services Authority for settling all pending proceedings which are ripe for trial at least on quarterly basis.On the subject of advanced hearings, the High Court has clarified that the Family Courts are permitted to depart from the procedure laid down on a motion made by a party for early hearing of a case(s) for any justifiable or valid reason. A procedure and timeframe has also been laid downIn cases involving senior citizens, if the Family Court is of the view that the outcome of such cases will have direct impact on the rights of the senior citizen, the Family Court shall make every endeavour to dispose such cases within the outer limit of six months of appearance of parties..The directions have been issued invoking the High Court's supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. The directions are to be implemented with effect from June 1, 2021. The High Court has also called for the Family Courts to place a report before the Registrar (District Judiciary) by December 31, 2021 on the compliance of these directions..Read the Judgment: