He was speaking in a seminar titled ‘Role of Courts in Alternative Dispute Resolutions’ at Rock Garden on Friday. Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Nicholas Addison Phillips, was the chief guest. The seminar was attended by the judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court including Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain.

Talking to mediapersons, the Union Law Minister emphasised the need of having judges from the minority section of the society and giving more opportunities to women in the profession. Regarding the recommendation of new judges for the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Bhardwaj said the court is expected to induct the new lot by April.

He also said that a total of 170 fresh appointments in various High Courts of the country have already been made with the objective of bringing down the increasing pendency of cases. When asked about a separate high court for Haryana, Bhardwaj said, “Everything is going fine in the Punjab & Haryana High Court.”

It was for the first time that a seminar pertaining to the judiciary was held at the Rock Garden Auditorium.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Surya Kant said no man should be deprived of speedy justice. “ADR has been confined to commercial use of justice. Matrimonial disputes are not like a property dispute which can be decided by recording evidence or seeing documents,” he said.

Justice M M Kumar observed that in ADR, a judge deals with emotions, human values and interests. Emphasising the need to prepare a pre-action protocol, Kumar said in India many cases are of a petty nature and an effort should be made to make it necessary that two parties try and enter into a compromise before choosing litigation.

The Union Law Minister said that despite making efforts to bring down the increasing pendency at the Central level, he has not got complete support from the Bar Council and Bar Associations. “In foreign countries, the arbitrators take only half an hour to decide cases of arbitrations. But in India, arbitrators, despite charging a hefty fee, take their work very casually,” said Bhardwaj.

Appreciating the effort of Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain, the Union Law Minister said the latter was doing a great service to the country. “Jain is a campaigner. Punjab & Haryana High Court is an outstanding court in this country and the entire credit goes to the Chief Justice. He is working on weekends with great commitment. If he can work on weekends, why cant we?” asked Bhardwaj.