The Inevitable Parliamentary debate in Monsoon/Winter Session- Nyaya Panchayat of Mani Shankar Aiyyar v. Gram Nyayalaya of H.R. Bhardwaj

"Access to Justice for the poor" and "Backlog in the Courts' Docket" are the political jargons used by different committees to support their version of administration of justice.
Law Minister, H.R. Bhardwaj has a plan to introduce "Gram Nyayalayas" i.e. the local village courts in order to cope with the increasing backlog of cases and to provide justice to villagers at a cheaper cost. However, the mechanism will still be formal. The procedural law of CPC and CcPC will be followed. There would be another tier added to the hierarchy of courts. It is undecided yet whether any lay persons would accompany the Nyayadhikari(judge). The jurisdiction conferred may be broad but the penalty to be imposed will be limited. At the same time, there would be one local court(Gram Nyayalaya) for many villages making the access to justice inaccessible still. The participation by the village community would again be negligible. They will be judged again in an impersonal manner by a person who does not belong to their community or who does not share the same values. The emphasis seems more on reducing the backlog of cases than making justice accessible to the poor. H.R. Bhardwaj asserted that he is fulfilling Rajiv Gandhi's dream where establishing 2000 new courts and 4000 more judges strikes at the very root of his dream. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1343109,prtpage-1.cms)
On the other hand, the Minister of Panchayati Raj, Mani Shankar Aiyyar together with a Committee headed by learned Prof. Upendra Baxi seek to re-introduce Nyaya Panchayats in villages. Nyaya Panchayats will provide villagers with true local self governance. Panchyats had been a part and parcel of administration of justice before the advent of British. The term “panchayat” can be understood from two perspectives. The word “panchayat” has been derived from the sanskrit word “panc” i.e. five which means “a gathering of five people.” [Robert M. Hayden, “Turn Taking, Overlap and the Task at Hand: Ordering Speaking Turns in Legal Settings” (1987) 14:2 American Ethnologist 251 at 255]
Traditionally, the caste panchayats were headed by people belonging to higher social status and women and SC/STs could not sit as a pancha. The basic function of the parliament was to resolve disputes in an amicable manner i.e. alternate dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation, conciliation etc. Such a setting enabled the panchas to evaluate the conflict in the light of societal values and culture. [Erin P. Moore, Gender, Law and Resistance in India (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1998) at 67] Such an informal process also provided sufficient relief and voice to the victim and also took into account the responsibility and circumstances of the offender, unlike the formal criminal justice system where the State snatches away the rights of compensation/restoration/redressal from the victim and reduces him/her to a mere witness or aggrieved party.
Since both the bills will aim at 'access to justice' for poor and 'decrease in courts' backlog', it is inevitable that there will be debates to pass only one of them.