Improvement of infrastructural facilities for judiciary and computerisation of courts have emerged as focus areas of the government, which has more than doubled the funds for 'administration of justice' in the law and justice ministry's allocation for 2008-09.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has raised the funds for administration of justice to Rs 253.12 crore (Rs 2.53 billion), compared to Rs 108.20 crore (Rs 1.08 billion) in the last Budget.
Showing an urgency for delivering speedy justice, the government has decided to computerise district and subordinate courts in a big way.
The Budget allocated Rs 115 crore (Rs 1.15 billion) for the purpose while there was no financial provision for it in the Revised Budget for 2007-08.
In its bid to address issues related to the huge arrear of over 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) cases in lower courts, the government has also raised the allocation for Special Courts by 600 per cent, from Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) in 2007-08 to Rs 13 crore (Rs 130 million) in the current Budget.
Similarly, the allocation for Fast Track court has also been increased by 13 per cent as compared to last year.
Adopting a pro-poor litigant approach, the government has raised the allocation for providing legal aid to the needy through National Legal Services Authority by 18.03 per cent as compared to the previous