Around 12000 Matrimonial Cases Remain Unsettled In JK Courts

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir desperately needs a family court to settle thousands of matrimonial disputes on a 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 set up 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 the establishment of two Family Courts– one each at Jammu and Srinagar. While more than 604 Family courts have been set up till March 2019 in different states of India, J&K did not get one despite having the 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 the government has given approval for the establishment of a family court in Srinagar, the implementation process should have begun.