Vice President M Hamid Ansari said on Thursday that the onus of the delivery of the rule of law rested on judges. He was addressing the sesquicentennial celebrations of the High Court of Judicature of Allahabad in lucknow on Thursday. Governor Ram Naik, Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Justice DY Chandrachud were present among those present.
Ansari said: "It has been said often enough that the fundamentals of faith must be revisited in order to reinforce faith. One of our articles of faith as citizens of the Republic of India is the rule of law. The term is a part of our daily vocabulary. Its basic purpose is the avoidance of tyrannical laws or their execution in a tyrannical manner."
Quoting eminent British jurist Albert Dicey, the Vice President said, "To him, the essential ingredients of the rule of law were the absolute supremacy of the regular law, equality before the law, access to justice and development of law by the judges on a case-by-case basis.’’
Ansari said that the traditional public esteem for judiciary had been reinforced by its activism in contrast to the failure of the executive to apply correctives on matters of concern and that was particularly true of its good work in expanding the ambit of rights.
The vice-president, however, also cautioned that the lack of access to justice, the high cost of it, delays in the delivery of justice, lack of a mechanism for accountability and allegations of corruption had together given rise to doubts and added to the pervasive pessimism about the efficacy of institutions. He added that another area of concern was the excessive zeal reflected at times in pronouncements of members of the judiciary.
"Some years back, the longest serving Chief Justice of India dwelt on a few aspects of the matter on the eve of his retirement. He identified long judgements, frequent adjournments and lengthy oral arguments. Each of these are remediable and can be remedied given the will and the commitment on the part of the judiciary and the fraternity of lawyers,’’ said Ansari.
"Judgements in an earlier generation were concise and cryptic and adjournments were allowed only for good reason. As for long oral arguments, it is an Indian malaise. In the Supreme Court of the United States, for instance, each side is allowed only 30 minutes for oral presentation. There is no reason why verbosity cannot be restrained. The ‘desire for immortality through the pages of law reports’ can be achieved better through sharp and succinct pronouncements as was done in an earlier period and has been done by great judges the world over,’’ said the vice-president.
Referring to Kautilya’s 'Arthashastra', Ansari said that judges should discharge their duties objectively and impartially. "This has been the dictum down the ages in all lands and legal systems. Rectitude is thus a prime requirement in judiciary as in all other walks of life and must be observed at all times and at all levels. The judicial mind should be so trained so as to eliminate subconscious loyalties and, in the execution of justice, he or she should, in the words of the 17th century English judge Sir Mathew Hale, lay aside (his) own passions and not to give way to them, however, provoked," said the vice-president.
Ansari asserted that a changing world had made globalisation an unavoidable necessity. "This, in the ultimate analysis, cannot be restricted to economics and trade policy only. It extends to global standards in all fields including the area of dispensation of justice. By implication, the space for local peculiarities is shrinking. The sooner we adjust to it, the better for all – litigants, lawyers, judges and the eventual beneficiary would be public," he added.
Expressing concern over the vacant posts of judges, Hamid Ansari said: "The Allahabad High Court is one of the oldest in the country. Today, it is the biggest in terms of work load, the number of judges and regrettably in terms of vacancies on the Bench. The lucknow bench of the High Court itself has had a long and distinguished history.’’
Referring to the dictum that 'justice delayed is justice denied', Governor Ram Naik pointed out: "When I look at the new imposing building of the lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, I am surprised and I feel sorry. Against the sanctioned strength of 160 judges, as many as 89 posts are lying vacant which makes up for a sizeable 56 per cent.’’
The Governor added: "I am sure that the pendency of cases can be cleared and prompt justice to the litigants can be ensured if the vacancies are filled at the earliest.’’
In his address, president of the Oudh Bar Association HJS Parihar said: "The capacity of the new High Court building can be fully utilised if vacant posts of judges are filled at the earliest. I hail the state government and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for extending financial assistance to the Bar and launching several schemes for the welfare of lawyers."