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Full text of the PM's speech at the Conference of Chief Ministers &Chief Justices of High Courts. In response, the Chief Justice of India, Y.K.Sabharwal minced no words when he said, "The justice delivery mechanismappears to be on the verge of collapse due to diverse reasons. Some of theresponsibility will have to be shared by the executive branch of theState."
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It gives me great pleasure to be here today at the inaugural session of theconference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts. Theseinteractions between different institutional wings of governance have immensevalue in promoting an exchange of ideas, in generating an increasedunderstanding of issues and in developing a consensus on key areas concerningthe governance of our vast country of ours.
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India has referred to the need for findingeffective mechanism to implement the resolutions and suggestions emanating fromconferences like this. I wish to assure the Hon’ble Chief Justice that hissuggestions for constituting appropriate mechanisms at the Centre and Statelevels to follow on the recommendations of the conferences of the ChiefMinisters Chief Justices would receive our most urgent attention. Interactions,like these become particularly important and relevant in the times in which weare living – times characterized by rapid changes in technologies, socialstructures, human relationships, life styles, behavioral norms and last but notleast, the socio-political milieu. In such turbulent times, all establishedinstitutions are subjected to varying degrees of stress and strain as a resultof the diverse pulls and pressures they are subjected to by forces of change. Itthen becomes incumbent upon institutions - and particularly institutions ofgovernance - to respond to these pressures and meet the emerging needs of timeswhile upholding a core set of values and principles which transcend change.Conferences such as yours provide a platform for us to reflect and gain a betterunderstanding of what is required of us to perform our roles, and in the contextof the judiciary, a crucial role assigned to it by the founding fathers of ourRepublic. I hope this conference, which has as its theme "Justice: Acceleratedand Affordable", applies itself to this task and comes out with usefulsuggestions. As I said earlier, our Government will work with the Hon’bleChief Justice of India to give practical shape to suggestions/recommendationsthat may emerge from this august Conference.
At our last meeting in September, 2004 I had the opportunity to share some of myideas on judicial reform and processes of governance. I was and I continue to beof the opinion that the Supreme Court of India is a shining symbol of the greatfaith our people have in our judiciary who see it as a protector from thearbitrary exercise of power and as a custodian of their fundamental rights. Thisis an impressive and enviable reputation which is the envy of many countries. Ihad then also spoken of the expectations from the judicial system, of theproblem of systemic overload, of the need for speedy and effective justice, andof mechanisms for addressing these issues. The conference deliberated on many ofthese aspects and gave valuable recommendations. Since then we have acted onsome of them and also taken several initiatives for which I would like to thankall of you, particularly the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India.
Like all institutions of governance, the judiciary too requires a periodic doseof institutional reform to keep pace with the societal demands. Our Governmenthas accorded high priority to judicial reform. As my colleague the Hon’bleMinister of Law & Justice has mentioned, the National Common MinimumProgramme lists judicial and legal reforms as one of the thrust areas ofgovernance reform. The higher judiciary has been proactive in trying to improveand strengthen the judicial process and justice delivery system to make themmore accessible, cost effective and less time consuming. The Government has alsotaken steps to improve the working of the judiciary keeping in mind the needs oflitigants, particularly, those belonging to the poorer sections. But I do agreewith the Hon’ble Chief Ministers that we cannot be satisfied with the statusquo, that we must set our sights step higher still.
As the theme of the conference highlights, Accelerated Justice is an essentialcomponent of an effective judicial system. And speedy delivery of justice alsoreduces the cost to a litigant, thus making it affordable. In this context, theproblem of pendency of cases in lower courts, and in some cases even in HighCourts, requires urgent attention. Speedy justice is an assurance extended to acitizen under the ambit of `right to life’ guaranteed under Article 21 of ourConstitution. Speedy justice can renew our people’s faith in theadministration of justice and in the `rule of law’. These constitute thebedrock of our democracy.
I learn that there are over 30 lakh cases pending in High Courts and over 2.5crore cases pending in subordinate courts. The arrears seem to be increasingevery year as disposal of cases is less than the institution of new cases. Ientirely agree with Hon’ble Chief Justice that this is a totally unacceptablesituation and I will ask the Government to reflect in what way the CentralGovernment in cooperation with the State Government can come back to aConference like this, in the future, to ensure that we have taken effectiveaction to deal with this pressing problem. This is a matter of concern and oneworries whether the system can continue to bear such an ‘overload’. At thelast conference, I had mentioned the need to address this through both loadreduction and productivity enhancement. Since then, some steps have beeninitiated to reduce delays in justice delivery and pendency in courts. Theseinclude computerization of courts at all levels, setting up of Fast Track Courtsand reducing vacancies of judges.
Computerization can help enhance the productivity of judicial work. It cancreate an accessible data base to help both judges and lawyers; it can help casemanagement and courtroom management; it can speed up judicial work by removingthe need for paper based transactions. Recognising the utility of this tool, theGovernment has approved a proposal for the computerization of district andsubordinate courts at a cost of Rs. 384 crores. An E-committee set up, on theadvice of the Chief Justice of India, to monitor implementation ofcomputerization of the judiciary has also submitted its report on the NationalPolicy and Action Plan for the Implementation of Information & CommunicationTechnology in the Indian Judiciary. This report is under active consideration ofour government. I believe that these measures will go some way in increasing theuse of technology in judicial work.
Last year, the government extended the term of Fast Track Courts, for another 5years, upto 31st March, 2010. A sum of Rs. 509 crore has been provided for thisprogramme. This, I believe has made a dent in the reduction of the backlog ofcases in courts. The criminal law has been amended so as to introduce theconcept of plea bargaining. We can also consider the idea of appointing retiredpersonnel as Special Magistrates for dealing with petty offence cases. Thismeasure can reduce the case load in courts.
A major issue we are facing is the large number of vacancies of judges in theHigh Courts and subordinate courts. I will appeal to the Chief Ministers toprocess these proposals as expeditiously as possible when they receive them fromthe Chief Justices of their respective High Courts. Our Government would like towork closely with the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and his Collegium forspeedily filling up these vacancies. State Governments may also considerincreasing the number of courts at the level of Magistrates and District Courtson the basis of pendency. We must also ensure that recruitment examinations areheld in time and frequently so that the vacancies among lower judiciary arefilled up in time.
The Ministry of Law and Justice is also engaged in drawing up a Gram NyayalayasBill as my colleague, the Hon’ble Minister for Law & Justice mentioned afew moments ago. . The main objective of these local courts will be to securejustice, both civil and criminal, at the grass root level to our citizens. Thiswould be the lowest court of subordinate judiciary and shall provide easy accessto justice through litigant - friendly procedures, use of local language andmobile courts where necessary. Such Gram Nyayalayas would genuinely make justiceaccessible and affordable at the grassroots.
While the institutions of governance fashioned by the founding fathers of ourconstitution have served us well over the years, we have to ensure that thecredibility of the system is maintained. There is need, therefore, for optimumuse of available infrastructure and resources. We must improve the quality ofpersonnel and court management techniques. I am confident that this conferencewill come up with practical suggestions on improving the capacity of ourjudicial system.
We also need to improve the utilization of existing laws and regulations. TheNational Legal Literacy Mission was recently launched by the National LegalServices Authority which is chaired by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India. Theobjectives of the Mission to promote knowledge of legal rights and awareness ofavailability of legal assistance are indeed very laudable and they needwhole-hearted support. We are looking into improving the budgetary support forthis very important programme.
As the custodians of the fundamental rights and freedoms of our citizens, ourjudiciary has an enormous duty and responsibility towards all litigants. Wemust, therefore, have an effective mechanism to ensure judicial accountabilitywhile at the same time maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The nationis proud of our judicial system, but it also expects it to deal with theinfirmities and inadequacies that remain. The judiciary must remain in step withchanging times even as it remains committed to its basic values and purposes.
I would also like to draw your attention to two issues which are also becoming amatter of debate. One is the issue of Public Interest Litigation. A highlycommendable mechanism when it was initiated, we need to reflect whether we havereached a stage where the pendulum has swung to the other extreme, whether ithas become a tool for obstruction, delay and sometimes even harassment. Abalanced approach in taking up PIL cases, I am certain, will continue to keepPILs as a potent tool for rectifying public ills. In a similar vein, I feel thatjudicial activism too must be used in a restrained manner to fill up anyinstitutional vacuum or failure and to clarify legal positions, retaining itscharacter as a powerful but sparingly used instrument for correction. Judicialactivism must also take adequately into account the administrative viability ofthe reform process.
From time to time, various suggestions have been received from many quarters forimproving the working of the judiciary and helping litigants, especially thosebelonging to poorer classes. These include elimination of unnecessary arrears inHigh Courts and subordinate courts, including through frivolous litigation;decriminalizing petty offences; appointment of ad hoc judges to clear pendencies;and, revision of Supreme Court Law Reports to weed out confusing and superfluousjudgments. We also need to seriously look at suggestions for an All IndiaJudicial Service, a formal mechanism to provide a mode of self-scrutiny of theconduct of judges, and for ensuring independence of the judiciary. TheGovernment, in consultation with the judiciary, is actively considering allthese matters.
Our government is committed to judicial reforms and would extend all possibleassistance in this regard. The Government is in the process of drawing up anaction plan for a holistic approach to judicial reforms. Since judicial reformsencompass a wide area, covering multifaceted issues such as infrastructureupgradation, legal changes, skill upgradation, alternative dispute resolutionmechanisms and other elements, the attempt would be to deal with as many ofthese issues as possible.
I do recognize that we have to improve the service conditions of those who manthe judiciary to be able to attract better talent. Our Government hasimplemented many of the recommendations of the National Judicial Pay Commission.Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are now entitled to more liberalizedperquisites and allowances. There are several incentives for meritorious,talented and eminent advocates to be appointed as Supreme Court Judges. Theissue of enhanced post retirement benefits for judges is under activeconsideration of the government and we have just approved enhanced benefits toretired Chief Justices of India. The Government is presently considering aproposal to increase the age of retirement of High Court Judges.
Finally, an important aspect of the reform and modernization of the judiciaryand improving the incentive mechanism, is to tackle corruption in the judiciary.Instances of corruption have now begun to surface in our judicial system too.The higher judiciary must address this challenge and show the way forward to therest of the system. And in this context, what has been stated by Hon’ble ChiefJustice of zero tolerance for corruption is something I greatly welcome.
As a lay man I can only look at the problem from the outside, as it impinges oncommon people. Apart from delay in settlement of cases, lengthy courtprocedures, frequent adjournments, evidence taking procedures, corruption in thejudiciary, these are some of the problems of public concern that must beaddressed. I suggest that these matters be examined in the light of thedifficulties faced by the common litigants and reforms initiated in the judicialand legal process in keeping with the basic principles enunciated in ourConstitution. We are living in an era of increasing public awareness andconsciousness. As awareness rises, expectations rise as well. The manner inwhich some cases are being prosecuted, particularly where cases fall becausewitnesses turn hostile or change their evidence, these are causing concern toever increasing sections of our society. There is a need for all of us toreflect whether the existing procedures are adequate and foolproof; whether weare using all available provisions to prevent deviant behaviour; and whether weneed new provisions in law so that the justice system is seen, in fact, todeliver justice and in time.
I have great faith that Justice Sabharwal and his learned senior colleagues willlead and guide our judiciary to achieve the formidable goal of reducing pendencyand providing speedier and more affordable justice to the common man. In thisendeavour, they will be fully supported by our government and, I hope, by allState governments. I also urge Chief Ministers to make available the necessaryinfrastructure needed by our courts to ensure their effective functioning.
I hope this Conference will be purposeful and productive. May your path beblessed.
