With the 73rd Amendment becoming a part of the Constitution, decentralised justice should have found renewed expression through Nyaya Panchayats. But neither the Constitutional Amendment nor the State Conformity Acts have brought this institution within their ambit. Nyaya Panchayats as Instruments of Justice looks afresh at the Nyaya Panchayats in the emerging context as a system of decentralised justice in relation to the broad objectives of local governance. This book is neither a dry-as-dust judicial document nor a pedantic academician''s thesis. It sets out in plain language a concerned citizen''s analysis of the subject and a seasoned administrator''s well-judged conclusions and recommendations. The aim of the book is to generate, or rather to regenerate, discussion and debate on the question of entrusting specified civil and criminal matters exclusively to Nyaya Panchayats.