Chief Justice of India T.S.Thakur’s emotional plea for more Judges may not be a solution to the woes of the Judiciary unless outstanding persons are appointed. Merely doubling the number of Judges without ensuring their quality will only further mess up India’s already ailing Judiciary.
It is very essential that only persons with sound knowledge of law and impeccable integrity be selected as Judges even at the entry level in the lower Judiciary. The selection of judges through a very transparent laid down process has to be very meticulous as persons with suspect credentials and those who cannot interpret the law inflict irreversible damage to the justice delivery system. It is imperative that politicians should have no role whatsoever, direct or indirect in the selection, promotion and posting of Judges. So also it must be ensured that sitting and retired judges do not orchestrate their incompetent and unworthy relatives, friends and former chamber colleagues to sneak into Judicial positions. Over the years we have witnessed some extremely good judges but in anguish have also seen those from the other end of the spectrum.
Courts across India including the High Courts are battling the crisis of credibility. Amongst the 66 current Judges of the Bombay High Court, almost half of them should have never been there. Some of them including Senior Judges are under the radar while they continue doing damage as the probe against them lingers.
The mountain of pile up of cases is indeed a matter of great concern. Over three crore cases in trial Courts across the country, a whopping 38 lakh in the 24 High Courts and a mind boggling 60,000 in the Supreme Court is no easy task to grapple with. We need to have the right persons selected as Judges with their salary and perks substaiantlly enhanced. The Judiciary should never be manned by persons who are slanted or aligned to any political party. Judges should have the spine to crack on illegalities done by any politician, regardless of the party he is affiliated to and the high position he holds. If Judges cannot independently balance the scales of Justice, the temples of Justice lose their sanctity.
Lord Harry Woolf, a former Chief Justice of England had said “Like old clocks, our judicial institutions need to be oiled, wound up and set to true time”.
Maybe it’s high time for a concerted effort to cleanse the Aegean Stables of Indian Judiciary by flushing out those undesirable judges who should never have landed where they are today.
