NYAYA PANCHAYAT

NYAYA PANCHAYAT

• Nyaya Panchayats are considered as a unit of the Panchayati Raj System of India.

• They function at the village or district level to deliver justice and thus are considered as the most basic level of the Indian Judiciary.

• Every Panchayat that comes under the jurisdiction of Nyaya Panchayat elects a member for such Nyaya Panchayat.

 

       Qualification

• The elected official must be 30 years of age or older.

• He must be a registered voter in the concerned Panchayat.

• He must be literate to read and write in the concerned State’s language.

• He must not be debarred from being elected to the Panchayat under any law in force.

• A Nyaya Panchayat is empowered with both civil and criminal jurisdiction.

• Its civil jurisdiction:  seeking compensation for wrongfully gaining or injuring movable property, suits for damages, and suits for breach of contracts where no immovable property is affected.

• Its criminal jurisdiction: covers certain offenses under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 like theft, outraging the modesty of a woman, trespass, injuring public property, mischief, etc.

 

       Functioning of Nyaya Panchayat:

• The Nyaya Panchayats are created with the aim to dispose of the cases as quickly as possible by eliminating delays and other technical issues. As a result, the functioning of the Nyaya Panchayats is not as complex as that of other judicial institutions.

• They have the authority to call witnesses and parties for the purpose of recording evidence or to produce any relevant fact or document. 

• The Nyaya Panchayat also has the power to carry out local enquiries within its jurisdiction and produce a report as per the order of the magistrate.

 

        Advantages

• They give relatively simple access to justice because they operate at the village and district levels.

• It is simpler for the offended party to contact a Nyaya Panchayat than a Court.

• It reduces expenses by eliminating the need for the complaint to spend large amounts of money to get justice.

• The workload placed on civil courts is reduced.

• Nyaya Panchayat has a greater case disposition rate than traditional courts.

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