NEW DELHI: Speaking at the inauguration of the Joint Conference of the Chief Ministers and Chief Justices on Saturday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana said the explosion in the number of cases in the country was mainly trigged by non-performance of various wings of the executive and legislature not realising their full potential.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the joint conference.
The CJI quoted the first Chief Justice of India Harilal Kania who said that this court will be called upon to discharge its duties as perhaps no other court has so far been called upon to do so.
He added that land disputes account for 66% of the pendency in the courts.
He reminded that the Constitution provides separation of powers among the three organs of the state and while discharging duty, one should be mindful of the 'Lakshman Rekha'. He assured that the judiciary would never come in the way of governance, if it is in accordance with law.
"We share your anxiety and concern regarding the welfare of the people," he said.
Speaking at the conference, the CJI said deliberate inaction by governments despite judicial pronouncements is not good for the health of democracy. The burden of courts increases when several contempt petitions come before it due to non-implementation of court decisions by the governments, he added.
He emphasized the fact that policy making is not the judiciary's domain, but, if a citizen comes to the court with a prayer to address his grievance, the courts cannot say no, and at times, ambiguities in legislations also add to existing legal issues.
“If the legislature passes a law, with clarity of thought, foresight and with people’s welfare in mind, the scope for litigation gets minimized,” he said.
The CJI said that when he had expressed concern about the passing of laws without much legislative scrutiny, some quarters had misunderstood him on August 15, 2021 and added that there should be no doubt about his highest regard for the legislature and the elected representatives.
Courts, being temples of justice, should be welcoming and carry the requisite dignity and aura, he said, adding that the environment of some district courts is such that even lady advocates feel apprehensive about entering court rooms, let alone female clients.
He said that there is a severe gap between the existing infrastructure and the projected justice needs of the people.
“To standardize and improve judicial infrastructure, I have been focusing on the creation of special purpose vehicles, namely, the National Judicial Infrastructure Authority and the State Judicial Infrastructure Authorities on the lines of NALSA and SLSAs,” he said.
He clarified that the issue is not about funds and acknowledged that the Union government has been making reasonable budgetary allocation through its centrally sponsored scheme for this purpose.
“...The time has come to move on from the present ad-hoc committees to a more streamlined, accountable and organised structure,” he said.
“... The proposed authorities are not aimed at usurping the powers of any government. The proposed authorities will have representation from all the stakeholders. It must however be acknowledged that it is the judiciary which best understands its own needs and requirements,” he added.
He said that the present proposal aims to bring infrastructure development under the supervision of Special Purpose Vehicles to be headed by the respective Chief Justices and involve the representatives of the central and state governments.
The rising number of frivolous litigations is an area of concern and the well-meaning concept of public interest litigation turns into personal interest litigation at times, he said.
“No doubt, PIL has served a lot of public interest. However, it is sometimes being misused to stall projects or pressurize public authorities. These days, PIL has become a tool for those who want to settle political scores or corporate rivalry,” he said.
“… This conference is an occasion for us to introspect and contemplate solutions. I have been a strong proponent of “Indianization of the Justice Delivery System”. By Indianisation, I mean increasing accessibility by moulding the system to suit the needs and sensibilities of the Indian population,” he added.
The CJI elaborated that it is a multidimensional concept. It calls for inclusivity, providing access to justice, removal of language barriers, reforms in practice and procedure, development of infrastructure, filling up of vacancies, augmenting the strength of the judiciary and so on.
He emphasized that he has a firm belief that judicial infrastructure, both in terms of personnel and physical infrastructure, needs urgent attention.
The CJI pointed to the numbers to show the increase in burden on the judiciary, saying that while the sanctioned strength of judicial officers has increased by only 16 per cent in 6 years, the corresponding rise in pendency in district courts is 54.64 per cent.
“This shows how inadequate the increase in the sanctioned strength is. Please be generous in creating more posts and filling the same so that our judge-to-population ratio is comparable to advanced democracies. As per the sanctioned strength, we have just around 20 judges per 10 lakh people, which is alarmingly low.”