1. It is a privilege for me to be present amidst you
this morning to inaugurate the Fourth Judges Retreat, 2016.
2. I understand the first such Retreat of
Supreme Court Judges was held in 2005. The Second Retreat was held in
2007 and the Third Retreat in 2009. A wide array of seminal topics, such as,
impact of contemporary developments on Rule of Law, Human Rights,
Administration of Justice and Judicial Systems in India were discussed in those
retreats.
3. This Retreat is happening after a gap of
almost seven years. I congratulate the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and other
companion Judges for organizing such an event which will provide an open forum
to discuss contemporary challenges that the country faces today along with
global and transnational elements of legal disputes and adjudication.
Discussion and reflection of this nature is important, as well as necessary, to
enable us to keep pace with the times and be able to deliver fair and effective
justice in a rapidly changing world. I hope these Retreats will be
institutionalized and held regularly in the future.
Distinguished Judges, ladies and
gentlemen,
4. Judiciary, which is one of the three
important pillars of our democracy, is the final interpreter of the
Constitution and laws. It helps maintaining the social order by swiftly and
effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of
the Rule of Law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the Judiciary
is sacrosanct. The faith and confidence people have reposed in the Judiciary is
testimony to the fact that the Judiciary has since 1950 responded to the need
of the hour. For justice to have meaning to the people, it must be accessible,
affordable and quick.
5. Maintaining “Rule of law” is the most
important attribute of the judiciary in a democracy. The Constitution
also recognises it and sets out the noble objective of securing justice to all
the citizens of India, be it social, economical or political. In ancient
times too, the rule of law had been activised and conceptualised as “Dharma-Dhru
dharayate”, that is to sustain and hold together human society through norms
which are moral and command the consensus of the good men in the whole
community.
6. Access to justice for the poorest of the
poor would ensure ‘Justice for all’. It is worth recollecting here what Mahatma
Gandhi had once said and I quote: “My notion of democracy is that under it
the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest”.
7. An affordable judicial system is a must
for a country having a section of population at the bottom of the
socio-economic pyramid. Article 39A of the Constitution provides that: “The
State shall ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on
a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid,
by suitable legislation or schemes in any other way, to ensure opportunities
for securing justice are not denied by reason of economic or other disabilities”.
Voluntary efforts by all concerned are required to make this provision a
reality. Greater efforts are necessary towards legal literacy.
Instilling positive values in our young lawyers is vital. The Legal Services
Authorities Act was enacted in 1987 to give a statutory base to uniform legal
aid programmes throughout the country. Successive Chief Justices of India have
played key role in enforcing the Act and I appreciate their contribution.
Provision of free legal service to the weaker sections would provide a strong
impetus to the cause of ‘Justice for all’.
Distinguished Judges, ladies
and gentlemen,
8. We have a written Constitution in India,
which is a living document, not a relic cast in stone. It is a magna carta of
socio-economic transformation. Justice P N Bhagwati, former
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and one of the tallest legal
luminaries that India produced, thus expounded on the need of national
constitutions to evolve with times[1]:
“The principle of
interpretation requires that a constitutional provision must be construed, not
in a narrow and constricted sense, but in a wide and liberal manner so as to
anticipate and take account of changing conditions and purposes so that
constitutional provision does not get atrophied or fossilized but remains
flexible enough to meet the newly emerging problems and challenges.”
9. The Apex Court of India has continuously
been interpreting the mandate for good governance enshrined in the Constitution
on the altar of contemporary situations and challenges facing the country,
whether due to global winds of change or from within. This has not been merely
an exercise in interpretation of laws or legal order, much less an exercise in
edifying jurisprudence; it has captured the ethos of our developing society as
it has evolved from the colonial shackles to a social order replete with the
essence of human dignity, of aspirations of a populace maturing into a
sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic as mandated by the makers of
our Constitution.
10. The Constitution of India
invests our independent judiciary, especially the Apex Court with extensive
jurisdiction over the acts of the legislature and the executive. Judicial
review is part of the basic structure and cannot be altered even by amending the
Constitution. It is the judiciary which ensures the effectiveness of
Judicial Review. The independence and integrity of our judiciary is
therefore of the highest importance not only to the judges but also to people
at large who seek judicial redress against perceived legal injury or executive
excess.
11. Given the circumstances of our
developing country, our judiciary has enlarged the scope of justice. For the
enforcement of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court through judicial
innovation and activism has expanded the common law principle of ‘locus
standi’. It has been made possible for courts to permit anyone with
sufficient interest and acting bona fide to maintain
an action for judicial redress, and to activate the judicial process. In
the support of rights, courts have found a post card or newspaper article to be
material enough to set-off judicial action. This has helped to bring justice
closer to the common man.
12. At the same time, judicial
activism should not lead to the dilution of separation of powers which is the
Constitutional scheme. Each organ of our democracy must function within its own
sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others. The balance
of power between the three organs of the state is enshrined in our
Constitution. The Constitution is supreme. The equilibrium in the exercise of
authority must be maintained at all times. The exercise of powers by the
legislature and executive is subject to judicial review. However, the
only check possible in the exercise of powers by the judiciary is self-imposed
discipline and self-restraint by the judiciary itself.
Distinguished Judges, ladies and
gentlemen,
13. Quick delivery of justice is
sine qua non for efficient jurisprudence. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Justice should be speedy, accessible and affordable. Our
Courts are today overburdened on account of the large number of cases pending
before them. There
are over three crore cases pending in various courts throughout the country.
Out of these about 38.5 lakh cases are pending in 24 High Courts. The pendency
of cases in the High Courts has slightly declined from 41.5 lakh in 2014 to
38.5 lakh in 2015, but we still have a long way to go.
14. Pending cases must be quickly
cleared through multi-dimensional efforts by effective use of statutory timelines and
procedural norms in areas like process service, adjournments, and delivery of
judgments. I am sure a paradigm shift in the way the public perceives the
legal system will come through persistent efforts by Judges to clear case
backlogs and reduce life cycles of cases. This must be taken as an opportunity
to bring in innovation in speedy dispensation of justice. Use of IT and
e-governance can make a positive impact in this regard.
15. Basic court infrastructure has
improved over the past years. ICT enablement of courts through the eCourts
Project has facilitated availability of court and case data through the
National Judicial Data Grid so that litigants and lawyers benefit from the
availability of case information online. I hope our Courts and Judges
will continue to remain active supporters as well as beneficiaries of all
efforts aimed at E-governance.
16. The pendency of cases is also
dependent upon the number of vacancies in the courts. I am told that out of a
sanctioned strength of 1065 judges in all the High Courts, the working strength
of High Court judges throughout the country as on April 12, 2016 was only 636.
This amounts to vacancy of 429 judges. Stated otherwise, our High Courts are
working with about 60 per cent of the sanctioned capacity.
17. I take this opportunity to
compliment the untiring efforts made by the Chief Justice of India to speedily
fill up the vacancies in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Since the
assumption of work of Collegium from the first week of January, 2016 total
145appointments were made as on 12.4.2016. This shows the speed with
which the collegium is now functioning and I request Honourable Judges to
maintain this tempo.
18. Emerging nations like India
are keen to incorporate international covenants and even customary
international law into their municipal laws where there is no explicit
contradiction. They, thereby, contribute towards the cooperation necessary and
indeed inevitable, across different legal systems so as to ensure that society,
the State and economy are not hampered by differences in legal systems. The
inevitability of cooperation across nations and across legal systems demands understanding
both from the Courts and legislature of the global village we live in.
Distinguished Judges, ladies and
gentlemen,
19. The Supreme Court of India has
earned a global reputation for its superior standards and lofty ideals.
Landmark judgments passed by this Court have not only strengthened the legal
and constitutional framework of our country but are widely cited by the
Judiciary in many other countries seeking to build progressive
jurisprudence. The Bench of the Supreme Court is known for its
intellectual wisdom and legal scholarship. The Supreme Court has over the
years been served by Judges who have provided intellectual depth, vigour and
vitality necessary to create a world-class institution. I am confident this
Court will always remain a sentinel of justice.
20. I thank you for your
invitation to participate in the Retreat and formally inaugurate it.
* * * * * *
[1] Hussainara Khatoon vs.
Home Secretary, State of Bihar
AKT/SH