SC must be subject to constant scrutiny: Justice Chelameswar

archana

Archana Mishra | January 23, 2018


#Judicial Reforms   #Justice Jasti Chelameswar   #Judiciary   #Supreme Court  


The supreme court should be subjected to constant scrutiny so that it improves, Justice Jasti Chelameswar said at a book release function on Monday. This was his first public appearance in Delhi after a January 12 press conference at which he and three fellow judges had spoken up about their differences with CJI Deepak Mishra over allotment of cases.

"One must constantly examine how exactly the institution is functioning now. What are its achievements and failures, and how it can improve as an institution?" Justice Chelameswar said, launching a book, 'Supreme Court of India: The Beginning', by the late Prof George H Gadbois JR, and edited by constitutional scholar Vikram Raghavan and Vasujith Ram. "I don't know why Raghavan wanted me to be the chief guest at this book launch," he joked.

In the audience were former judges, academicians and politicians like Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid of the Congress. Also present was Justice Madan B Lokur, one of the three judges who had joined Justice Chelameswar at the press conference he'd called at his residence.

The book gives an account of the foundation of the apex court and its first two decades. "Those who are interested in sustaining and improving the institution for the welfare of the people of this country require a greater study of the remaining period," Justice Chelameswar said. "For the survival of a liberal democracy, an impartial and independent judiciary is essential."

He opined that the supreme court was not a "superintendent court, at least the text of the constitution doesn't provide this power". However, he said, in practice, it exercises much superintendence -- in the appointment and transfer of judges and by laying down the law regarding various aspects of administration of justice at the high courts and subordinate courts.

He said there was a near impossible backlog of 50,000-60,000 cases at the supreme court, for which a solution needed to be found for the court to remain relevant. The cases had accumulated, he said, because of "the enormous jurisdiction conferred on the supreme court by the consitution, coupled with the court's eagerness to do complete justice".
 

Comments

 

Other News

Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav, Technology & Bharatiya Bhasha Summit launched

Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan Saturday launched the Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav and inaugurated the two-day Technology & Bharatiya Bhasha Summit in New Delhi. The summit aims to facilitate a seamless transition from the current education ecosyst

India retains 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index 2023

India has retained the 40th rank out of 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2023 rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. India has been on a rising trajectory, over the past several years in the Global Innovation Index (GII), from a rank of 81 in 2015 to 40 in 2023. Inn

Vibrant Gujarat not just about branding, also an event of bonding: Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi addressed the programme marking 20 years celebration of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit at Science City in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was started 20 years ago, on September 28, 2003, under the leadership of Modi, then chief minis

AI in education: How to embrace the change (and why)

It is often said that industry is at 4.0 and education is at 2.0. To transform education in line with artificial intelligence (AI), it is imperative to adopt what companies like Google are doing. We must learn to grow along with AI as AI is going to grow. There is a need to evolve the mindsets of educators

Diamonds are Forever: A Saturday story

Saturday Stories By Rashmi Bansal HarperCollins, 176 pages, Rs 250 From the bestselling author of ‘Stay Hu

Oracle Adds AI Capabilities to Oracle Analytics Cloud

Oracle has showcased new AI-powered capabilities within Oracle Analytics Cloud. Leveraging the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI service, the new capabilities assist analytics self-service users to more quickly and efficiently conduct sophisticated analysis and make better business decisions

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter