Strengthening subordinate judiciary is the need of the hour: CJI Ramana

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], April 15 : Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday said that strengthening the subordinate judiciary is the need of the hour and the most crucial issue affecting the Indian judiciary is the issue of pendency.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Conference of Telangana State Judicial Officers, the CJI said the purpose behind organizing the Conference is to introspect about various factors governing the administration of justice and to discover ways and means to bring qualitative improvement in the system.
"Strengthening the subordinate Judiciary is the need of the hour. The performance of any organization delivering any form of service must be assessed in terms of its effectiveness in achieving its goals. The goal of the justice delivery system is to deliver timely justice, as contemplated in the Constitution," he said.
The CJI added, "Talking about the effectiveness of achieving the goal of justice delivery, the most crucial issue affecting the Indian judiciary, and particularly the subordinate judiciary, is the issue of pendency."
"I understand that your functioning is adversely affected due to lack of infrastructure and the large number of judicial vacancies. However, I assure you that I am giving my best, to address these issues on priority. It is my firm belief that better judicial infrastructure and filling up of judicial vacancies is essential for improving access to justice."
CJI Ramana said that it has been his endeavour to fill up all the judicial vacancies at all levels and with cooperation from all the stakeholders considerable progress could be made on this front.
"In the case of Telangana, we could go a step ahead. The strength of the High Court has gone up from 24 to 42. The working strength has gone up from 12 to 29. After I assumed office, so far 17 fresh appointments were made. You all know, out of those 17, 11 are from your fraternity. In the latest round, out of the 12 recommended, 10 were already appointed. I am trying to get the remaining two names also cleared," said Ramana.
He further said, "On the infrastructure front, you all are aware of my efforts to create statutory Judicial Infrastructure Authorities at the national and State level. To deal with this and a host of other issues, I have taken initiative for hosting a joint conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers towards the end of this month. I hope and believe that the conference would yield desired results."
The greatest strength of the Indian judiciary is the faith of people in the institution, CJI Ramana told the gathering.
"Being the Court of First Instance, it is your responsibility to ensure that the litigants remain satisfied. Litigants form an opinion on the judiciary based on the conduct of Officers/Courts in the Subordinate Judiciary. This casts a great responsibility on your shoulders. You have to create a congenial environment for the litigants. Often, the litigants would be under a lot of stress. You should try to make them feel at ease."
"Always remember the human aspects of the dispute. Law cannot be far from equity. It is important to project the human face of the Judiciary, whenever you have scope for invoking your discretion. Make the Court proceedings accessible. Consider the socio-economic background, language, education, etc. of the parties involved and deal with them suitably. You must sensitize yourself to different vulnerabilities of parties. Minors, women, persons belonging to the weaker sections of the society, persons with disabilities, etc., might all have different requirements. Treat everyone with respect," the CJI said.
Most importantly, perform your judicial duties without any fear, CJI Ramana told the judicial officers.
"I am aware of the increasing physical attacks on judges. I am doing my utmost to prevent such occurrences. Directions were issued to improve the security of judicial officials both inside and outside Courtrooms. I also urge all of you to take care of your health- both physical and mental. There is a lot of work and stress that we as judges must face...."
"I know your financial well-being is a very important factor. Only when you are free from financial worries, you will be able to give your best. Let me assure you that I have taken up the issues related to pay commission and you will soon get good news on this front," said the CJI.
He further said that a Judge is judged not only by the quality of his judgments, but also by his character, transparency, and impeccable integrity.
In the last two years, we all have suffered immensely due to the pandemic, we tried to minimize the loss of Court hours by using modern technologies. With the pandemic becoming less intense, the Constitutional Courts have been functioning with full potential, he said.
The CJI asked judicial officers to come out of the fear of pandemic and make sincere efforts to spare extra time for court, beyond regular Court hours to deal with the backlog.
Without improving the internal efficiency of the system, we can not ensure effectiveness, he said, adding that targeted action and effective case management can bring about a big difference.
Ramana said the need of the hour is to enhance the usage of technology in case management system. I would encourage all judicial officers to keep themselves updated on the status of cases pending before them through the National Judicial Data Grid, he added.
"The District judiciary is the foundation of this institution. Only if the foundation is strong, the system will flourish. It is for all of you to work in that direction and see that the flag of the judiciary flies high.
I have not hesitation in saying that my friend of many years and Chief Minister of Telangana Sri K Chandrasekhar Rao garu is one of the most pro-active Chief Ministers as far as facilitating the functioning of the Judiciary is concerned," CJI said.
The judiciary of this State is fortunate to have the whole-hearted support of the government, he added.
"All of you are aware how encouraging he has been in setting up of International Arbitration and Mediation Centre which is generating employment opportunities directly and indirectly. In these times, when the employment opportunities are dwindling everywhere, it is remarkable that the government of Telangana is doing its best to fill the vacancies in the government sector. I compliment the Chief Minister for his efforts in this direction," said CJI Ramana.
The CJI requested the Chief Justice of the Telangana Justice Satish Chandra Sharma to expedite the process of recommending names for filling up of remaining vacancies.
"I urge upon him to keep in mind the social diversity while making the recommendations for elevation. Inclusivity doesn't stop with the enhanced representation of women. Every segment of society should get due representation. Only then the society will develop a sense of belongingness with the judiciary," the CJI said.