Written by Shaurya Mahajan
The Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana on Saturday said that the non-performance of the various wings of the executive and the ambiguities in the legislations were contributing a lot to the case load of the judiciary.
The CJI also mentioned that if the authorities are performing their functions in accordance with the law, people would not have to approach the Courts. The law and the constitution are at times ignored in governance and the opinion of the legal department is not sought in the rush to implement executive decisions.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 11 Joint Conference of the Chief Ministers of the States and Chief Justices of the High Courts at New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also spoke at the event.
The CJI mentioned various issues that exist and are a cause of the heavy load on the judiciary.
The CJI mentioned various points and problems that need to be resolved, as follows:
• Judiciary will not come in the way of governance if it is in accordance with law
• Defiance by Government adding to contempt cases
• Legislations passed without sufficient discussions; ambiguities in law leading to litigation
• Two major reasons for docket explosion – Non performance by executive and non realization of potential by legislature
• Pendency is often blamed on the judiciary; but the issue of unfilled vacancies need resolution
• Frivolous litigation a cause of concern
• Judicial infrastructure
• Use of Local languages in High Courts
The CJI also reiterated his call for “Indianization of judiciary”.
“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.
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”.
