Are Gram Kutcheharies functioning in every Gram Panchayat under Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 2006 constitutional?

Is the elected village judiciary keeping record of its decisions?

Speaking at the State-Level Consultation Meeting on Strengthening Accessible and Hassle-Free Justice through Gram Kachahari on May 30, 2026, Dr. Gopal Krishna, Advocate, Patna High Court commented on the recommendations to strengthen the village court and village court system. Besides public awareness campaign regarding Gram Kachaharis, their powers, scope and judicial process, there should be an effort to make the office bearers aware about social, economic and political justice, constitutional morality, constitutionalism and the Constitution of India. 

Dr. Krishna pointed out that there are no Gram Nyayalayas functioning in the State of Bihar. The State has a system of Gram Kutcheharies, as the court of first resort, functioning in every Gram Panchayat, established under the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 2006, to adjudicate on local issues and provide legal redressal. These Gram Kutcheharies are democratically elected judicial bodies, presided over by the elected Sarpanch who is assisted by Panchayat Sachiva and Nyay Mitra.

Dr. Krishna endorsed the recommendation that Gram Kachaharis should be made fully functional legally, administratively and technically. But he pointed out that there should be coordination between the office bearers of the Gram Kachaharis and the courts to ensure that the police and administration complies with their decisions. He agree with the recommendation that the cases under jurisdiction of the Gram Kachaharis should be compulsorily transferred to them instead of being settled directly at the police station level. Guidelines in this regard should be issued in every police station and it should be monitored regularly. This requires separate administrative and technical arrangements. At present they are not receiving adequate resources and support. 4. Personnel should be appointed for notice serving and judicial process. Like before, Chowkidar, Dalpati or other personnel should be employed under the Gram Kachaharis so that notices can be served, information given to the parties and other judicial processes can be conducted effectively. 

The advocates have been demanding Advocates Protection Act for long. Now security and respect of judicial officers of Gram Kachaharis too should be demanded. 

Dr. Krishna observed that there should be a system for regular review and monitoring of the Gram Kachaharis by the High Court because if their review is under district administration and the state government, it will be contrary to Article 50 of the Constitution of India. Article 50 reads: "Separation of judiciary from executive- The State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State." Unless the separation is ensured, office bearers of Gram Kachaharis cannot exercise their constitutional rights. As to the recommendation regarding whether or not Sarpanch and Panch who are also elected representatives of local self-government, also be given the right to vote in the Legislative Council elections like the Mukhiya and ward members will require careful consideration because the office bearers of Gram Kachaharis are acting as judicial officers as well. There can be no disagreement with regard to alternative dispute resolution system, mediation and community reconciliation centres  at the village level so that justice can become accessible and less expensive.

Dr. Krishna endorsed the recommendation regarding compulsory registration of all cases and recording of judicial proceedings. It should be made mandatory to register the disputes settled at the village level in the Gram Kachahari Register, so that the judicial proceedings can be properly recorded and the actual role of the Gram Kachari can be seen in the government statistics. For Gram Kachaharis to be deemed a credible judicial institution, they must function as a court of record. They must use their decisions as precedents and they too must draw on the decisions of the higher courts with rigorous referencing. These aspects cannot be set right unless there is regular judicial training for the judicial officers of the Gram Kachaharis. This will require adequate budgetary allocation and financial autonomy for the Gram Kachaharis. A separate budget should be allocated to the Gram Kachharis for its regular operations besides this, Sarpanch and Panches should be provided respectable honorarium, traveling allowance and necessary financial assistance for running the office. 

With regard to participation of women representatives and the tendency of family members to conduct judicial work in place of elected women representatives, Dr. Krishna suggested that there should be complete ban on such conduct, and in the aftermath of Supreme Court's directions regarding adequate representation of women in Bar Councils and Bar Associations, there is a compelling logic to apply the same to Gram Kachaharis.   

As to the infrastructure for Gram Kachaharis, Dr. Krishna referred to the Infrastructure Bench of Patna High Court which is hearing the batch of cases seeks remedy for infrastructural deficiencies faced by the courts of all the districts, advocates and litigants, to suggest that an application may be moved before it seeking relief. This suggestion was accepted by the organisers. 

Last year, at a similar consultation at Chanakya Law University, Dr. Krishna had observed that the idea of elected judiciary can have huge political ramifications because this ends up creating judicial institutions which are majoritarian. He wondered as to who is keeping records of decisions by Gram Kachaharis, the elected village judiciary.     

It significant that there are 8,053 Gram Kachaharis in Bihar. So far 1,09,118 criminal cases and 1,30,868 civil cases have been registered with them. They have disposed of 2,25,393 complaints. At present, 14,593 cases are pending. The disposal rate is 93.91% which is better than the Case Clearance Rate (CCR)—the number of cases disposed of compared to the number instituted—for the Subordinate Courts of Bihar stands at 90.66% across the various district and sub-divisional courts

Notably, the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 came into effect from October 2, 2009  but the Act does not make establishment of Gram Nyayalayas mandatory for the State Governments. As per Section 3(1) of the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008, “for the purpose of exercising the jurisdiction and powers conferred on a Gram Nyayalaya by this Act, the State Government, after consultation with the High Court, may, by notification, establish one or more Gram Nyayalayas for every Panchayat at intermediate level or a group of contiguous Panchayats at intermediate level in a district or where there is no Panchayat at intermediate level in any State, for a group of contiguous Gram Panchayats”. Union law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister informed the parliament that "As per information provided by the State Government of Bihar, the main reason for non-establishment of Gram Nyayalayas is the likely conflict with and infringement upon the jurisdiction of Gram Kutcheharies established under the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 2006. Moreover, the system of Gram Kutcheharies which is working satisfactory does not warrant the setting up of a parallel system." Gram Nyayalayas are functional in other States. It is yet to be ascertained as to whether Gram Kutcheharies or Gram Nyayalayas are constitutional? There is a need to undertake a comparative study in this regard. 

The consultation was addressed by Sarpanchs from different Gram Kachaharis and Amod Kumar Niarla, State President, Panch-Sarpanch Association of Bihar besides Prof. Satish Kumar, Yogesh Chandra Verma, senior advocate, Patna High Court, Ravindra Nath Roy, a social worker, Ram Baabu Singh, Anil Rai, educationist, Advocate Ashok, High Court, Dr Sudhir Kumar, Vijoy Kant Sinha and Ritwij.