Once again highlighting the issue of vacancies in the judiciary and huge backlog of cases, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said the process of appointment of judges must be accelerated.
The CJI has flagged the issue in his public speeches on many occasions in the recent past.
"There are 12 judges per 10 lakh people in the country andat leastthree crore cases are pending in the courts. There is a need to speed up the process of appointment to vacant posts of judges," Justice Thakur said.
He was addressing the first state conference of judicial officers, organisedby the Chhattisgarh High Court and the State Judicial Academy, here.
As per the Law Commission's report in 1987, 40,000 judges were needed then, but even today the strength of judiciary was only 18,000, he said.
If the situation did not change, the figure of pending cases would cross five crore in the next 15-20 years, and crores of people would be deprived of justice, the CJI said.
Appointments can be made gradually by setting a target for the next five years, Thakur said, adding that he had expressed his concerns on the issue with the Prime Minister too.
The foremost attribute of judiciary is honesty, he said.
"If any person, belonging to any sector, is not honest, then he must be a trader ("dukandar"). An arbitrator should not be a trader and is not supposed to sell judgement. Therefore, honesty is the foremost quality needed in the judiciary," the CJI said.
A good judge is the one who gives a patient hearing to both the sides before dispensing justice, Justice Thakur said.
Supreme Court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre and Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Deepak Guptawere also present.
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Speaking at the workshop, the Chief Minister, in an
apparent reference to Maoists, said, "the destroyers of schools, hospitals and bridges and their supporters can never be the well-wishers of tribal people.
"Bastar is undergoing transformation. I am glad to inform that state government's efforts in the field of education has resulted in children of Bastar making it to institutions of national repute such as IIT, IIM, NIT."
He said Chhattisgarh is the first state to provide Right to Food Security and skill development to its people.
Acknowledging that rules laid by NALSA will play an important role in development of the country, Singh said, "It's a matter of great pride for Chhattisgarh that the CJI is here to deliberate on such an important subject.
"The seven rules of NALSA not only protect the rights of people belonging to weaker and backward sections of society but also ensure implementation of state governments' schemes.
