Pendency of cases in Indian court is a larger issue that needs to addressed, according to Justice (Retd) Abhay Oka, a former Supreme Court judge.
In 2002 a Supreme Court order had said that by 2012, ideally the judge-to-population ratio should be 50 per million population whereas today we are struggling at 20-21. With passage of time new litigation is being added, he said.
Speaking on 'Holding the Government to Account: The Role of Independent Judiciary and Free Press' at Mumbai Press Club on Friday, Oka also referred to a 2017 judgement by an SC bench of former chief justice DY Chandrachud, where eminent academic Prof G Mohan Gopal was tasked to bring out a formula for a number of judicial officers required. The SC fixed this formula and each court was directed to submit the proposal to their respective states using the formula calculating a just strength required.
“I was Chairman of that Committee. The result was 12000 more judges in trail and district courts. We submitted a proposal for 8,000 more judges in 2016 or 2017. I am told so far only 700-800 posts have increased. If you visit any Metropolitan Court in the city, daily each judge has more than 100 cases. Half the cases are of domestic violence, Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. This is a larger issue that needs to be addressed,’’ he said.
Responding to a question of why higher courts do not take Suo Motto action, Justice Oka, who was Bombay high court judge for more than 15 years, said that as constitutional courts if you are told to have 150 cases listed before us daily, that puts several constraints on our performance because constitutional courts are not meant for dealing with such huge number of cases.
On the question of appointment of judges, he said the Collegium of senior most SC judges makes recommendations to the central government for appointments of judges to High Courts and SC.
In cases when there are delays on part of government after recommendations of the Collegium he said there are judgements in place that government can resend a name for reconsideration, the government has to sign on the dotted line. “That judgement is not being implemented. We have to replace the existing collegium system and evolve a new collegium system. No system can be perfect. Judiciary has flaws, executive has flaws. So we have to find out a better system, evolve a better system.”
On the issue of fundamental rights of speech and expression, Justice Oka who retired as a SC judge in May 2025 said, “My duty as judge is to find out whether there is violation of Article 19A and whether any offence is made out.. I can’t travel beyond my duty and my duty ends by writing a strong judgement coming down heavily on the infringement of fundamental right under Article 19A … media and press can mould public opinion so they can say that look what you have said may not be correct it may not be proper or appropriate or inappropriate…the press has a unique position as compared to judiciary. The press is in a position to influence the opinion of common man.”
