Happy to announce that we are closing out the inaugural cohort for our 6-week Judicial Reform & Policy course on a high note!! It was an incredible journey of learning, growth, and collaboration. We're grateful for the enthusiasm and dedication of all our participants. Together, we hope to shape a brighter future for India's justice system and judicial policy! A huge shout-out and thank you to all our experts for taking the time to engage with the participants and sharing their knowledge. Justice (Retd.) Gautam Patel | Justice (Retd.) Akhil Kureshi | Senior Adv. Harish Narasappa | Senior Adv. Siddharth Aggarwal | Prof. Vijay Raghavan from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) | Prof. Rangin P. Tripathy from National Law University Odisha (NLUO) | D. C. Jain, Chief Operating Officer of the Indian Police Foundation (IPF) At last, we would like to extend our thanks to @TakshashilaInst for all their support in hosting this course. If you are interested in learning more about India's judicial policy, keep an eye out for details about our next cohort! @SuryaPrakashBS @leah_verghese @ohsmita @RohithHouse @sujo2906 #JudicialReform #PolicyCourse #Justice #AccessToJustice #Transparency #Accountability #JudicialPolicy

We are pleased to invite you to the launch of their landmark report “The State of Tribunals 2025”, a baseline report on India’s commercial tribunals, part of our Transforming Tribunals Project. Commercial tribunals play a critical role in India’s ease of doing business vision, serving as a vital link to ensure investor confidence, business liquidity, and timely resolution of disputes. Originally envisioned to deliver speed, expertise, and investor confidence, commercial tribunals today face persistent challenges, including high pendency, locked-up capital, chronic vacancies, and governance gaps. DAKSH’s baseline report maps these pressures across commercial tribunals, including the NCLT, NCLAT, APTEL, ITAT, CESTAT, SAT, DRT, DRAT, and GSTAT, and proposes pathways to strengthen their functioning. This launch is being organised in collaboration with our Advocacy Partner, The Quantum Hub (TQH) @tqh_policy, a public policy research firm. The launch will include: ● A Keynote Address by Justice N Seshasayee, Hon’ble member of NCLAT ● A presentation of DAKSH’s findings from the project ● A high-level panel discussion with eminent experts such as: - Justice (retd.) Shiva Kirti Singh, Former Supreme Court Judge & Ex-Chairperson, TDSAT, - Dr. SANJEEV GEMAWAT, Managing Director & Group General Counsel, Essar Group, and Treasurer, GCAI, - Ms. Aparna Ravi, Partner, S&R Associates, - Mr. Sumant Batra @SumantBatra , Insolvency Lawyer and Past President, INSOL International. - The panel will be moderated by Mr. Harish Narasappa SA, Senior Advocate & Founder, DAKSH Your presence at the launch will be instrumental to this initiative and contribute to a meaningful dialogue on improving the efficiency and transparency of India’s commercial tribunals! 📍 Venue: Central Delhi (details shared upon registration) 🗓️ Thursday, September 25 🕔5 pm onwards RSVP now as seating is limited: forms.gle/Tba2sQmZTcFsbY7Q7 @daksh_india @tqh_policy @rohitkr_RK @GuhaDeepro @SuryaPrakashBS @RitimaSingh10 @RohithHouse @leah_verghese #StateOfTribunals #TransformingTribunals #JusticeReform #CommercialAdjudication #EaseOfDoingBusiness #JudicialEfficiency #TribunalReforms #AccessToJustice #LegalReformIndia #DAKSHInitiative

We are pleased to introduce the next distinguished speaker contributing to the Judicial Policy and Reforms Course. D.C. Jain will speak in the session “Law Enforcement's Perspective: Understanding recent reforms to India's Criminal Justice System.” Mr. Jain brings a wealth of experience from working as an officer in the Indian Police Service, the Central Bureau of Investigation (Special Director) and a member of a working group of INTERPOL. In the session, he will be providing an overview on all the reforms to the criminal laws. He will discuss the merits and drawbacks of key justice system reforms, especially on the legislative push for expedited trials. Stay tuned for more updates and the full speaker line-up. Last day to apply is July 25, 2025. Course details - opentakshashila.net/spaces/1… Apply now - docs.google.com/forms/d/1A7e… @SuryaPrakashBS @leah_verghese @ohsmita @RohithHouse @sujo2906 @TakshashilaInst #JudicialPolicy #JudicialReforms #PolicyandReforms #Course #onlinecourse #DCJain #legaleducation #judicialresearch #criminalLaws #CBI #systemreforms #Transparency #academia #justicesystem #accesstojustice

We are pleased to introduce the next distinguished speaker contributing to the Judicial Policy and Reforms Course. Prof. Rangin P. Tripathy will speak in the session “Academicians' Perspective: Data and Research-Driven Approach.” A noted scholar in the field of judicial reforms, Prof. Tripathy will draw on his extensive research on the Indian judiciary to explain how empirical data and academic inquiry can inform meaningful reform. He will also be speaking on topics vital to the functioning of the judiciary like judicial capacity, public trust and transparency in judicial mechanisms. Stay tuned for more updates and the full speaker line-up. Seats are filling up! The course kicks off on August 2, 2025. Register now to reserve yours. Course details - opentakshashila.net/spaces/1… Apply now - docs.google.com/forms/d/1A7e… @SuryaPrakashBS @leah_verghese @ohsmita @RohithHouse @sujo2906 @TakshashilaInst #JudicialPolicy #JudicialReforms #PolicyandReforms #Course #onlinecourse #RanginTripathy #legaleducation #Data #judicialresearch #publicTrust #Transparency #academia #justicesystem #accesstojustice

We are pleased to introduce the next distinguished speaker contributing to the Judicial Policy and Reforms Course. Harish Narasappa will speak in the session “A Lawyer's Perspective: The Advocate's Voice- Civil Cases.” Harish brings a wealth of experience from courtrooms and tribunals. He will be offering a nuanced understanding of the experience of the lawyers when dealing with civil cases in the Indian courts and tribunals. He will also be speaking on how collaborative and stakeholder-driven approaches can drive positive reform in civil justice. Stay tuned for more updates and the full speaker line-up. Seats are filling up! The course kicks off on August 2, 2025. Register now! Course Details - opentakshashila.net/spaces/1… Apply Here - docs.google.com/forms/d/1A7e… @SuryaPrakashBS @leah_verghese @ohsmita @RohithHouse @sujo2906 @TakshashilaInst #JudicialPolicy #JudicialReforms #PolicyandReforms #Course #onlinecourse #HarishNarasappa #civilLaw #civilcases #legaleducation #courtrooms #tribunals #commerciallaw #civiljustice #justicesystem #accesstojustice

The judiciary is a vital pillar of our democracy. Yet, numerous challenges continue to hinder the effective delivery of justice in our country. Transforming justice in India needs more than intent; it requires informed citizens willing to serve as torchbearers. Introducing DAKSH's first-of-its-kind course on Judicial Policy and Reforms. This course is organised by DAKSH on the OpenTakshashila platform, which is an initiative by @TakshashilaInst. Whether you're a student, researcher, policymaker, or concerned citizen, this course offers a rare, comprehensive look into India’s judicial system. This course provides a strong foundational understanding of the Indian judiciary, enriched by direct engagement with expert stakeholders, offering an all-round and nuanced perspective on India's judicial system Applications for the course are now open, and slots are filling up quickly, so apply now! Learn about the course - opentakshashila.net/spaces/1… Starts soon. Limited seats. Apply today - docs.google.com/forms/d/1A7e… @SuryaPrakashBS @leah_verghese @ohsmita @RohithHouse @sujo2906

Did you know that funding for the judiciary in India is largely a state responsibility? The Finance Commission remains the ideal platform to institutionalise the financial and policy corrections. For deeper insights into budgetary allocations for the judiciary, explore our latest research paper by Rohith CH @RohithHouse and Surya Prakash B S @SuryaPrakashBS - dakshindia.org/budgetary-all… #financecommission #judiciary #indianjudiciary #accesstojustice #stategovernment #uniongovernment #fundingbygov #paper #research #data #judicialdata #financialdata #policy #reforms #judicialreforms

The judiciary, like the other branches of government, needs proper budgeting, sufficient allocation of funds and the capacity to use these funds effectively. DAKSH is happy to announce the release of its latest research paper, “Strengthening the Rule of Law: Role of the Finance Commission.” This paper examines budgetary allocations to the judiciary, highlighting systemic issues in funding and utilisation of allocated funds. You can read the full paper here: dakshindia.org/strengthening… Focusing only on physical or digital infrastructure of courts isn’t enough to drive reform. A holistic approach, backed by research and pilot projects, is key to driving real change. The paper analyses such challenges, including shortages of judges, staff, and infrastructure, and explores trends in judicial expenditure across union and state government levels. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the paper, reach out to us, at [email protected] or DM us. Stay tuned as we share and discuss the key insights from this paper!

DAKSH hosted a webinar on "Tackling Judicial Congestion Through Strategic Scheduling of Cases" on 25 February 2025 at 6:30 PM. You can watch the full video on YouTube - youtu.be/VqjU13joI-s This session features a discussion on the paper "Service Operations for Justice-on-Time: A Data-Driven Queueing Approach," by Nitin Bakshi, Jeunghyun Kim, and Ramandeep Randhawa, which explores innovative ways to reduce judicial delays by up to 65% - without increasing the number of judges. - Presenter: Nitin Bakshi - Discussants: Aparna Chandra @ataparnachandra and Siddarth Raman @thriddas - Moderator: Rohith C H @RohithHouse, Data Analyst, DAKSH If you're interested in learning more about DAKSH's efforts to improve causelists in Indian courts, check out our Listing project here: dakshindia.org/improved-caus… #webinar #listing #listingproject #causelist #discussion #researchpaper #event #eventvideo

#EventAlert | Webinar: Tackling Judicial Congestion Through Strategic Scheduling of Cases | 25 February 2025 | Add to Calendar - addevent.com/event/Yh2491375… DAKSH invites you to a webinar on improving judicial efficiency through better case scheduling. We will feature a discussion on the paper "Service Operations for Justice-on-Time: A Data-Driven Queueing Approach," by Nitin Bakshi, Jeunghyun Kim, and Ramandeep S. Randhawa, which explores innovative ways to reduce judicial delays by up to 65% without increasing the number of judges. 📅 Date: 25 February 2025 (Tuesday) ⏰ Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Stay tuned for more details. #webinar #onlineevent #discussion #paperdiscussion #research #justice #casescheduling #nitinbakshi #aparnachandra #judiciary #justice #access #courts #courtmanagement @ataparnachandra @XkdrF @thriddas @RohithHouse

A few days ago, several news outlets, including @htTweets published news articles based on an @ANI report stating that the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Chirang, Assam cleared all pending cases in 2024. Curious about this claim, we cross-checked the information using the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) - hindustantimes.com/india-new… As of 24 January 2025, NJDG shows 390 pending cases in the CJM Court of Chirang, of which 355 cases were registered before 2025. These included 239 warrants/summons, 59 miscellaneous criminal applications and 57 juvenile cases. This data directly contradicts the reports of zero pendency in the CJM of Chirang at the end of 2024. Below is a screenshot from the NJDG website showing the pending Magisterial Cases in the district courts of Chirang. As you can see, there are cases pending in CJM, Chirang, which were registered in 2024 and before. This discrepancy raises important questions about the accuracy of reporting on judicial data and highlights the need for journalists and editors to approach such claims with caution. Since the judiciary is being transparent by putting out data on NJDG it is essential for journalists and editors to fact-check any judicial data they receive from other sources and reach out to experts to understand such data better. #FactCheck #judicialdata #data #publicdata #judiciary #Chirang #districtcourts

A recent article in @livemint relied on NJDG (National Judicial Data Grid) data to praise the judiciary for reducing pendency. On a closer examination, we found some inaccuracies in the numbers- livemint.com/news/india/judi… We compared the numbers cited in the article with the NJDG data and here’s what we found (refer to the images below). The Indian judiciary has adopted technology in recent years through the eCourts project, but the impact of technology on pendency is not significant for now. The availability of public data on judicial performance in India has improved significantly, thanks to initiatives like the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). However, the importance of accurately reporting and contextualizing this data cannot be overstated. #NJDG #courtdata #judicialdata #judiciary #IndianJudiciary #courts #supremecourt #highcourt #districtcourt

The data shared in Parliament is considered to be authentic and reliable. Recently, we found some discrepancies between the judicial data on pending cases shared by the Ministry of Law and Justice @MLJ_GoI on 28 November 2024 to the Rajya Sabha and data from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). We analysed the NJDG data as of 18 December 2024 for the states reporting the most significant reductions in pending civil and criminal cases. A few examples of the discrepancies between this data and what was provided to the Parliament are in the image attached. The inconsistencies in judicial data from various sources, especially when reported to key public institutions like Parliament, raise serious concerns about its reliability. This is not a new phenomenon. Shruthi Naik in this blog from 2019 talks about inconsistencies in court data from different sources - dakshindia.org/are-judicial-… Let us know what you think in the comments below. #courtdata #data #njdg