Judges not consulted on keeping courts open round the year

Chief Justice of India R M Lodha did not consult his colleagues in the Supreme Court before pushing for a public debate on keeping courts open round the year like emergency services.

Justice Lodha had mooted the radical proposal before lawyers at Jaipur in the second week of May to improve disposal of pending cases and had requested Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Biri Singh Sinsinwar, who like the CJI also hails from Rajasthan, to urgently seek views of other state bar councils. BCI is the apex regulatory body for professional conduct of lawyers.

After making public his proposal to keep courts open throughout the year, the CJI wrote to chief justices of all high courts for a debate on it and sought feedback. But judges of the Supreme Court felt ignored by the CJI on this score as there was "no consultation at all" with them on this issue. News agency learnt from some judges that "the issue was never even broached in any of the full court meetings of judges in the Supreme Court".

"Probably, we could have told the CJI how unworkable the proposal is. Also, we could have given suggestions to improve the pace of the justice delivery system," a judge said. The judiciary is groaning under the weight of over 2 crore pending cases though rate of disposal has improved over the years.