Maharashtra NGO to tackle grievances of sitting judges

In an unique initiative, an NGO, 'Law and Order' comprising prominent citizens, retired judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts and District Courts will now take up grievances of sitting judges across the country, an official said here on Tuesday.

The initiative - which comes against the backdrop of last week's unprecedented media interaction of four senior apex court judges - will seek to ensure that even the sitting judges in District Courts, all High Courts and Supreme Court have an outlet to vent their grievances which can be resolved to ensure "an effective and transparent judiciary", said lawyer Asim Sarode.

 

"We appeal to all sitting judges and the legal fraternity to join hands in this initiative. The names of any sitting judge with a grievance will be kept completely confidential while the Law and Order's expert committee examines and resolves them," Sarode told IANS.

He said the aim is to create an atmosphere where no judge is compelled to voice his/her grievances on a public platform in future, through the 'Law and Order', which includes social-political intellectual Vishwambhar Chowdhary and Litigants Forum of Maharashtra secretary Bhalchandra Joshi.

Later, addressing the media here, the three said that currently in Maharashtra, the Department of Justice's secretary is mandated to deal with all grievances pertaining to judges, legal assistance, awareness, computerisation of various lower courts and judicial reforms.

However, grievances concerning Special Courts, Tribunals - barring the Family Courts - like CBI Courts, Labour, Industrial, Consumer Courts and Consumer Appellate Tribunals, DRT and DRAT, Armed Forces Tribunals, Juvenile Justice Boards and CATs, are handled by their concerned ministries.

As far as High Courts are concerned, the grievances are sent to the Secretary General of Supreme Court or the Registrars General of the concerned High Courts for appropriate further action as required, Joshi said.

In turn, these officials forward them to the Chief Justice of India or the Chief Justices of the concerned High Courts for suitable action.

"This is because the judiciary is independent and the government neither seeks any action taken report or sends reminders, and the aggrieved persons are advised to seek information directly from their concerned courts. This is where transparency and accountability is required," Joshi explained.

As per existing apex court guidelines of 2015, he said the aggrieved members of the subordinate judiciary need to submit a sworn affidavit along with verifiable material to substantiate allegations raised, which must be sent directly to the Registrars General of the concerned High Courts.

"We at 'Law and Order' initiative' feel these requirements must be done away with at the primary stage to encourage greater participation in the judicial reforms process," said Sarode.

"The difference between current mechanism and our initiative is to help the sitting/working judges resolve their grievances and they can continue working as fearless judicial officers without any botheration," Choudhary said.

The 'Law and Order' has also demanded that all the courts, right from Supreme Court to District Courts, should telecast proceedings of all important and sensitive cases to ensure greater transparency in the system, since in 2013 the Law Ministry had already recommended video recordings of court proceedings as part of reforms.

This is will help eliminate the 'disconnect' of society with the judicial system and improve the common citizens' understanding of the courts and legal processes, they said.

--IANS

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