systematic manner. All agencies of the Government are now under a fundamental obligation to enhance access to justice. Article 40 which directs the State to take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government, has to be appreciated afresh in the light of the mandate of the new article 39A.” Judicial backlog With a rapid increase in the number of people approaching the courts, the primary concern faced by the Judiciary is the escalation in the number of new cases coming in and an ever-increasing backlog, which seems to have assumed insurmountable propositions making access to justice to the public at large a far delayed and long drawn process. There are more than three crore cases pending before the various courts of India as stated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. Other reasons The following considerations seem to have prompted the Law Commission and the Study Team on nyaya panchayats to recommend the revitalisation of nyaya panchayats: (The Law Commission, Fourteenth Report and the Report of the Study Team on nyaya panchayats extracted from an article written by K.N. Chandrasekharan Pillai titled “Criminal Jurisdiction of nyaya panchayats” Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol. 19, October–December 1977 p. 443) They would dispose of a large number of cases and thus relieve the burden of regular courts. They would succeed in getting a large number of cases compromised through peaceful conciliation. The villagers in general would be satisfied with the administration of justice obtaining in village or panchayat courts and that the decisions of these courts on the whole would do substantial justice. Appeals and revisions from these decisions would be small in number. There should be speedy and cheap disposal of cases. The litigants and witnesses who are mostly agriculturists can conveniently attend the courts and thus there would be no interference with agricultural activities in the village. The panchayat could bring justice nearer to the villager without involving the expenditure which would otherwise have to be incurred in establishing regular courts. Panchayat would have an educative value. Local courts acquainted with the customs of the neighbourhood and nuances of the local idiom are better able to understand why certain things are said or done. An institution nearer to the people holds out greater opportunities for settlement and