On Saturday, the CM-CJ conference took place after six years in the presence of PM Modi, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Chief Ministers of states, Chief Justices of high courts, and the Chief Justice of India.
At the conference, CJI N V Ramana cited the low number of judges, 20 per million, as a primary reason for the 4.8 crore case pendency. Further, he said, “Litigation is often triggered because of two major reasons — non-performance by the various wings of the executive and the legislature not realizing its full potential.”
Elaborating on the non-performance of the executive, he said, “If tehsildars acted on farmers’ grievances. If the panchayat and civic bodies discharged their duties, if the revenue authorities acquired land following due process, if service laws were applied fairly, and if police investigations were fair and no illegal arrests made, the majority of the cases would not come before the courts.”
And as for the legislature, he remarked, “If the legislature passes a law with clarity of thought, foresight, and people’s welfare in mind, the scope of litigation is minimized.”
Sometimes governments’ defiance in implementing courts’ decisions forces the judiciary to pursue contempt proceedings. Again this adds to the burden on the courts. In other cases, the executive willingly transfers the decision-making burden upon the courts, though policy-making is not the courts’ job.
The CJI also raised concern over the increase in frivolous litigations and misuse of the noble tool of PIL — devised to protect the rights of the oppressed and the voiceless — to halt projects or pressurize authorities also to settle political scores or corporate rivalry.
He sought the attention of the PM and CMs over the gap between the judicial infrastructure that’s needed and current existing facilities. He once again reiterated the judiciary’s demand to create separate National and State Judicial Infrastructure Authorities as Special Purpose Vehicles with representation from all stakeholders to enhance judicial infrastructure and create modern court complexes urgently.
Reference: Non-performance by various wings of executive leads to burden on courts
Image Source: PTI