Revival of dedicated apex court Bench welcome
The re-introduction of the Social Justice Bench' by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar will help the court to re-focus on socially sensitive issues. Sensing the depth and importance of these matters, the decision taken by the Chief Justice of India should expedite thousands of cases pending in various courts regarding social problems. Since the beginning of his tenure on January 4, the new Chief Justice of India has been taking one or the other innovative step to either establish a new work culture or send a signal for dispensing speedy justice. Apart from the return of the Social Justice Bench, CJI Khehar has now said that unlike before, non-miscellaneous days, such as Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, will have 10 miscellaneous cases listed for hearing. The idea of the Social Justice Bench was initiated by the then Chief Justice of India Hl Dattu in December 2014, under a notification issued by the Supreme Court. It continued during his entire tenure, but was buried by his successor, Chief Justice TS Thakur. It seems that one reason for doing away with the Bench could have been that during one year of its existence, it did not deliver a single judgement. But it was solely the prerogative of the then CJI to take a call on an administrative matter. The original idea behind the establishment of this Bench was to streamline cases relating to social issues before one court and thus, facilitate the Supreme Court's monitoring and review of the Government's action in such cases. Indeed, having such a Bench in a country like India, where many cases emerge on socially sensitive aspects, would contribute to the establishment of a fair social justice system in society. The order issued by the Supreme Court to set up the new Bench during the tenure of then Chief Justice Dattu echoed the same: “In the Supreme Court, several cases relating to the domain of ‘social justice' are pending for several years. The CJI is of the view that these cases shall be given a specialised approach for their early disposal so the masses will realise the fruits of the rights provided to them under the Constitution.” When lakhs of cases are pending in the Supreme Court, a special Bench for such cases will ease the burden of the judiciary.
The moot question is: Will this indeed serve the interests of the downtrodden and the marginalised groups, who have barely any means to fight their casesIJ A proactive judiciary is fine, but assisting the victims in such cases will be a mounting challenge for the entire legal community. The Social Justice Bench was supposed to particularly hear cases relating to release of surplus food grains for use of people living in drought affected areas; to take steps to prevent untimely death of women and children for want of nutritious food; providing hygienic midday meal etc. legal experts say that, if handled carefully, speedy justice in such cases is not an impossible task.