Patna: Village courts in Bihar disposed of over 2.25 lakh civil and criminal cases in the last 22 months, achieving a disposal rate of nearly 94%, but sarpanches and court secretaries on Thursday said police and chowkidar interference was undermining the functioning of these courts.The issue was raised at a workshop organised by Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna, where around 125 sarpanches and village courts secretaries from across the state shared their experiences in handling disputes at the grassroots level.Data presented during the workshop showed that Bihar’s 8,053 village courts registered 2,39,986 cases during the 22-month period, including 1,30,868 civil disputes and 1,09,118 criminal cases. Of these, 2,25,393 cases were disposed of, leaving 14,593 pending.CNLU registrar and Chair Professor of Panchayati Raj S P Singh said the high disposal rate highlighted the importance of gram kutcheris in ensuring access to justice at the village level. He said strengthening village courts could reduce the burden on district courts by enabling disputes within their jurisdiction to be resolved locally.During the workshop, participants highlighted operational challenges, particularly interference by police and village watchmen, which they said often affected the independent functioning of gram kutcheris.Among those who addressed the gathering were Unicef’s Banku Bihari Sarkar, Bihar panchayati raj department consultant Raghuvansh Kumar Sinha and Bihar State Panch-Sarpanch Association president Amod Kumar Nirala.The discussions focused on measures to strengthen village courts and make dispute resolution more accessible, affordable and timely for rural residents.
