Following the victory of the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance in the 2004 Indian general election, the National Advisory Council advised the Government of India to introduce legislation.
Since a forum for the resolution of disputes with the participation of people in local justice administration is the goal envisaged by Article 39A of the Constitution of India, it is strongly felt by some jurists and social scientists that it is incumbent on the government to take immediate steps to activate nyaya panchayats, given that it might not be possible to render access justice in rural areas simpler and quicker.
It is also argued that nyaya panchayats guided by local traditions, culture and behavioural pattern of the village community instill confidence in the people towards the administration of justice.
5.3) indicating that nyaya panchayats made precisely this point, observing that “Article 39A of the Constitution of India directs the State to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall, in particular provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by economic or other disabilities.
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.” 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.