R Venkataramani, Attorney General for India, and Dr Abhishek M Singhvi, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India and Member of Parliament, highlight backlog, judicial vacancies and coordination gaps at a seminar hosted by O P Jindal Global University and National Law University Delhi.
Mounting case pendency and delays continue to place pressure on India’s justice delivery system, prompting renewed calls for structural changes and better coordination across institutions.
At a seminar on Delivering Justice in Time: Global Practices and Indian Experiences, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani called for a nationally guided system for plea bargaining that reflects social, cultural and economic realities.
He noted that plea bargaining is increasingly being adopted globally and emphasised the need for a clear and consistent approach that can support practitioners as well as those seeking justice.
R Venkataramani said, “Plea bargaining is becoming universal. There’s a new need for a national protocol for plea bargaining, a national protocol which can be evolved and which can, in a very healthy way, advise, guide and counsel practitioners as well as victims of justice, so that the protocol can work in a more transparent and objective way.”
He also stressed the importance of managing resources within the justice system and proposed the creation of a National Institute for Criminal Justice Administration to track efficiency and performance. In addition, he spoke about the need for a Legal Health Index to measure access, predictability and institutional effectiveness.
In his keynote address, Dr Abhishek M Singhvi, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and Member of Parliament, pointed to the scale of backlog as a central concern.
He said, “We need to deal with the ABCD, the access, backlog, cost and delay issues, and the obvious step is to appoint court judges.”
Dr Singhvi called for filling judicial vacancies, improving coordination between courts, police and prison systems, strengthening mediation and adopting structured case management practices. He also noted that arbitration has increasingly become an additional layer rather than an effective alternative.
Prof C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor of O P Jindal Global University, highlighted that more than five crore cases remain pending and outlined priorities including judicial capacity, procedural changes, use of technology in courts and data based governance.
Prof G S Bajpai, Vice Chancellor of National Law University Delhi, added that speed alone cannot define justice and stressed the importance of fairness, transparency and procedural integrity. He also called for stronger victim support systems and a clearer sentencing approach.
The seminar, held in Hyderabad, brought together legal experts, academics and practitioners to examine court efficiency, digital systems and pre trial processes as part of broader efforts to improve justice delivery.
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