Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has said that unless the number of judges in the country are increased, courts will not be able to promise access to justice to its citizens, a right enshrined under the Constitution. He was speaking at the inauguration of a district court complex at Bhopal on Friday.
Raising the issue of lack of judicial manpower as a major cause of worry, the CJI said, "Owing to the population explosion faced by our country and enhanced degree of awareness among citizens for their rights, both civil and criminal litigation before the Courts have increased manifold. This calls for a proportional increase in the strength of Judges and enhancement in the infrastructure of the courts." The CJI warned that not doing so will make it difficult for judges to live up to the constitutional promise of Access to Justice in the normal life cycle of an individual.
As per the latest statistics released by the Government, there are 19.66 judges for 10 lakh population. From time to time, CJIs have rued over the lack of judicial manpower as a significant reason for increased pendency of cases. On one hand, the available workforce of judges and judicial officers is low, and at the same time, the huge backlog of vacancies remains unfilled.
The CJI added that along with judicial manpower, infrastructure too needs to be enhanced. "There is a need to adopt a consistent, systematic and a synchronized approach by the concerned Governments and the High Courts so that remedial measures are taken to improve infrastructure conditions at court complexes," he said, adding, "This will definitely resurrect the much required public confidence in our professionalism."
The CJI was emphatic that the State has a duty and responsibility to provide enough courts and judges. In his speech he said, "Justice delivery system is associated with infrastructure. Therefore there is necessity for the same….A litigant, an advocate and the adjudicator all should have the requisite atmosphere where justice is delivered. Financial constraint is no ground. It is the constitutional obligation of the state to provide the proper infrastructure to fulfill the promise stated in the Preamble." This also relates to human dignity, CJI added, as allowing litigants, lawyers and judges to strain themselves in inhospitable and unacceptable conditions violates human dignity.