The Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts on Sunday witnessed an unprecedented scene when Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur broke down over inaction in filling up judicial vacancies in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who promptly intervened and promised to resolve the issue.
Addressing the inaugural session of the annual conclave here, the CJI wiped his eyes as he lamented the Government’s “inaction” in raising the number of judges from 21,000 to 40,000 to handle mounting cases, saying, “You cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary”.
“Nothing moves”, an emotional Thakur said, recalling a 1987 law Commission recommendation to increase the number of judges from then 10 judges per 10 lakh people to 50. “Then comes inaction by the Government and the increase (in the strength of judges) does not take place,” he added in a choked voice.
“...And therefore, it is not only in the name of a litigant or people languishing in jails but also in the name of development of the country, its progress, that I beseech you to rise to the occasion and realise that it is not enough to criticise. You cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary,” the CJI, who was seen wiping his eyes on three occasions, said as the Prime Minister heard him in rapt attention.
Modi, who was not scheduled to speak as per the programme circulated by the law Ministry, said, “I can understand his (CJI’s) pain as a lot of time has elapsed since 1987. Whatever the compulsions, it’s better to be late than never. We will do better in the future.
let us see how to move forward by reducing the burden of the past.”
He said if constitutional barriers do not create any problems, then top Ministers and senior Supreme Court judges can sit together in a closed room to find a solution to the issue. Modi also recalled that in one such conference he had attended as the Gujarat Chief Minister, he had flagged the issue of reducing vacations in courts and holding morning and evening courts. However, during the lunch break at that event he had to face trouble as some judges had questioned the idea.
later, addressing a Press conference on the day’s deliberations, the CJI admitted that being emotional was his “weakness”. “One should not be emotional. Justice Kehar (who is likely to be the next CJI) is a strong man. He will not be emotional,” he said.
In his address, the CJI said following the law Comm-ission’s recommendation, the Supreme Court in 2002 had also supported increasing the strength of the judiciary. A Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committee on law then headed by Pranab Mukherjee had also recommended taking the judge to people ratio to 50 from 10.
The CJI also spoke of the “tug-of-war” that goes on between the Centre and the States over funding, infrastructure and other issues. As of today, the judge to people ratio stands at 15 judges to 10 lakh people, which is way less as compared to the US, Australia, the UK and Canada.
Referring to the pressures Indian judges face, Justice Thakur said from a munsif to a Supreme Court judge, the average disposal in India is 2,600 cases per annum as compared to 81 cases per annum in the US.
Briefing the media along with law Minister Sadananda Gowda about the outcome and discussions of the conclave of Judiciary and Government, CJI Thakur said by next week the Supreme Court Collegium will respond to the revised Memorandum of Procedures (MoP) set by the Government on the appointment of Judges in High Court and the apex court.
He said the document (MoP), prepared by the Government to enhance transparency in judicial appointments, will be sent back to the Centre next week with the comments of the SC collegium.
Thakur said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who headed the Group of Ministers to draft the memorandum, had asked him whether the collegium was ready with its response.
On whether the judiciary was ‘okay’ with the text of the memorandum, Justice Thakur said the core of the document, based on a SC judgment, will remain “unaltered” that the collegium will make a recommendation.
The CJI said the collegium has now cleared all proposals sent to it, in six weeks. While 145 judges were either elevated as permanent judges in the HCs or were appointed as additional judges, 169 proposals were still pending with the Government, he said.
The CJI wondered why the Government was delaying the appointment of judges when there was a huge backlog of cases. Responding to the question on the delay in clearing names, law Minister Gowda said verification by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) takes time.
The CJI was of the view that the IB should be asked to submit its report in a fixed timeframe. “The Director, IB should depute more men. The Government is very resourceful. In fact there is no system to track the recommendations made by the collegium. We should have a system to know where the recommendation is. We don’t know whether a secretary is sitting on it or it is with the Prime Minister’s Office or the law Ministry,” he said.
He said most of the appointments were not fresh in nature. Additional judges have been made permanent judges in most cases. Which means that no fresh appointments were made against vacancies.
“How much time does it require when there is an avalanche of cases,” he had said this morning in his address while referring to delays in appointing judges. The CJI said 50 per cent of the recommendations made by the HCs were rejected by the collegium as “we have raised the bar”.
Referring to suggestions, including that from the Prime Minister, that judiciary should cut down on its vacations, he said, “We don’t go to Manali. Judges of constitutional benches write their order...When one side is ready, the other is not. Ask the Bar if they are ready,” he said.