Mobile court bus visits India's rural poor

As his gleaming silver bus swung into the unpaved village car park, Judge Sundeep Singh clambered out to deliver what India's rural poor crave at least as much as jobs, clean water and schools - justice.

Sweating in the muggy monsoon weather, Judge Singh, 37, is a representative of "Justice on Wheels" - an experimental scheme in which a mobile court delivers legal redress to the poor.



For millions of rural Indians who have been cheated, injured in accidents, robbed or sexually assaulted, taking someone to court is a fantasy. They cannot afford the bus fare to the nearest town to hire a lawyer, much less pay fees that rise because of long delays in the legal system.

With between 20 and 30 million cases clogging up the legal system, it can take anything from 10 to 25 years to obtain a verdict. Judge Singh tries to settle cases in one or two hearings.

With news video.