Lack Of Education, Legal Knowhow Affecting Delivery Of Justice In Bihar’s Village Courts

Amarjeet Sharma

Danapur Cantonment (Bihar): Sanjay Kumar had gone to the gram kachahari (village court) of Danapur regarding a land dispute, but the division that took place there was not acceptable to him. Later, he had to approach the janta darbar organised by the circle officer at the police station.

“If you do not get justice from the rural court, you will face problems in getting justice in future also. First impression is important. Only a person knowledgeable in law should be brought to this post. Only then will the number of cases reaching the courts reduce,” said Patna High Court advocate Shakeel Akhtar, adding that appointment of uneducated women as sarpanches is giving rise to unnecessary controversy.

In Bihar, gram kachaharis have been delivering justice to villagers over the last few decades. However, the state government’s decision to reserve the position of sarpanch for women in the panchayat elections since 2006 has led to a condition where uneducated women occupied that post. This has led to an erosion of faith among villagers over the functioning of gram kachaharis.

Earlier, decisions of the sarpanch were accepted as final. Today, despite roping in the panchayat secretary and a government-appointed nyay mitra, only four to five cases — mostly related to land disputes and religious violence — reach the sarpanch of a rural court in a month. Even in those cases, people are not satisfied with the decision of the sarpanch.

Gram kachaharis have two types of jurisdiction. Keeping in view the courts are taking years to execute the cases in the present judicial system, gram kachaharis have been given criminal jurisdiction under IPC Sections 106, 107, etc.

Despite the Panchayati Raj department providing the services of panchayat secretary and nyay mitra, the problems associated with decision-making have not been fully solved. The secretary helps the sarpanch from time to time, while the nyay mitra gives legal advice on the actions and decisions of the sarpanch. All panchayats in Bihar get their services in running gram kachaharis.

However, due to the low contracted amount, the sarpanch sometimes faces difficulties. A sarpanch is paid Rs 5,000 per month for all the work that he does in the village, while a panchayat secretary is paid Rs 6,000. Nyay mitra, who should be an LLB graduate, is paid Rs 7,000. Mostly, nyay mitra is able to give time only one day in a week, while the panchayat secretary is given the responsibility of more than two panchayats, due to which they find it difficult to give full time attention.

There are 8,053 village panchayats in Bihar. However, 760 (9.44%) sarpanches are illiterate, of which 498 are women. There are 1,582 female and 796 male sarpanches (29.53%) who are literate or with below class 8 pass as educational qualification. The class 8 pass (13.25%) category has 606 women and 462 men, while class 10 pass category (18.64%) comprises 517 female and 985 male sarpanches. Class 12 pass category (14.47%) has 342 women and 824 men, while graduate category (12.15%) has 259 women and 720 men. The postgraduate lot (2.52%) includes 28 women and 175 male sarpanches. The overall figures show that the percentage of illiterates or below class 8 pass combined is more than any other group.

According to government data, more than 14,593 cases are pending in village kachaharis from 2021 to 2024, most of which are civil (8,364) and criminal (6,413) cases. For example, about 1,654 cases are pending in Bhagalpur district. In view of this, the panchayati raj department had called meetings and ordered to settle the pending cases as quickly as possible.

Legal knowledge mandatory

“Sarpanches who do not have legal knowledge should not be made a rural court judge. It is necessary that the person should be trained to deal with legal matters and have a bachelor’s degree. Only such qualified people should be chosen to the post,” said advocate Tej Narayan Sinha of the Patna Civil Court.

Ankit Kumar, the sarpanch of Gonpura panchayat in Patna, told 101Reporters that education is necessary if one has to serve well as a sarpanch. “It should be decided at the time of election that whoever the candidate is, be it a man or woman, that person should be at least matriculation pass. However, I feel this is such a post where it will be difficult for anyone less than a graduate to function well. Sarpanches also need judicial information and training from time to time,” remarked Ankit.

Sarpanch Chandan Kumar of Kurkuri panchayat, Phulwari Sharif, Patna, did not pass class 10 and knows first-hand the difficulties in handling gram kachaharis. “I underwent just two days of judicial training in a camp organised at Danapur Block Office. I was not even fully informed about how justice should be delivered in gram kachaharis,” he said.

However, Phulwari Sharif Block Development Officer Vijay Kumar Mishra claimed that besides special training in law, booklets are provided so that sarpanches do not face problems in administering justice.

Phulwari Sharif police station head MA Hydari said that when the matter is not resolved in gram kachaharis, people come to the janta darbar held in the police station every Saturday. “At the darbar, cases of land disputes are brought to the notice of the zonal officer. There are magistrates also at the darbar. At least five to 10 cases are settled every week.”

According to Nausha panchayat sarpanch Farzana Khatoon, approaching a formal court also means travel expenses and lawyer’s fee, whereas there are no such expenses attached to the village court.

Nyay mitra Manoranjan Kumar said he provides legal advice to the sarpanch whenever needed. “Whenever we are called for this panchayat work, we go. Also, it is mandatory to go every Saturday.”

However, Manoranjan adds that the contract amount of Rs 7,000 per month should be increased as it is simply not enough to travel to the panchayat assigned every week.

Pramod Kumar Tripathi, an NGO worker from Bhusaula panchayat, observed that in the village court it does not matter if the sarpanch is a woman, but it does matter that she is literate and educated. “If the sarpanch is uneducated, the decisions could be taken by his/her supporters, or will be as per their wishes.”

(Amarjeet Sharma is a Bihar-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)