The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir desperately needs a family court to settle thousands of matrimonial disputes on fast track basis. This was stated by a senior lawyer, Meraj Ahmad while talking to Brighter Kashmir. He was referring to a news report filed by a news agency a few months ago,
According to him, more than 12,000 matrimonial cases were pending in different courts of Jammu and Kashmir and the government had utterly failed to setup even a single family court to address these cases.
Giving details, he said: “More than one thousand (1,431) family related cases are pending in Srinagar district and 3,768 cases in Jammu. For want of family courts, general courts are over-burdened.”
Pertinently, in 2018, State Administrative Council (SAC) led by Governor Satya Pal Malik approved establishment of two Family Courts-- one each at Jammu and Srinagar. While more than 604 Family courts have been setup till March 2019 in different states of India, J&K did not get one despite having approval of the former cabinet.
The establishment of Family Courts is going to help in speedy settlement of disputes related to marriage and family affairs, Meraj said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Family Courts, Act was enacted in the State in November, 2018. It is pertinent to mention here that the draft Jammu and Kashmir Family Courts Bill was placed in the public domain for inviting objections and suggestions on September 18, 2018.
Senior Advocate of the High Court, Zaffar Qureshi had told a news agency that if government has given approval for establishment of family court in Srinagar, the implementation process should have begun.
“Maximum litigations in courts are related to family disputes. If we have dedicated court for it, the burden on general courts will go down,” he said. When asked, why there is delay in establishing such a court in Srinagar. Chief Justice of High Court should have established one, if it’s already approved. “I don’t understand, why they are delaying it,” he said.
According to the sources, the establishment of Family Courts has been taken keeping in view alarming rise in disputes relating to marriage and family affairs and to ensure speedy disposal of cases. “These courts will hear matters related to domestic relationships, marriage, divorce, conjugal rights, guardianship, child custody,” they said.