CJI DY Chandrachud Stresses Need For Open Communication Between Judicial Officers & High Court Judges

The CJI opined that the existence of such a 'perceived communication gap' was 'the product of colonial times and of colonial subordination”.

"Primarily, these gaps have been identified in (i) collegiality between the judges, (ii) role of the inspecting or administrative judge and (iii) assessment of judicial officers. Collegiality is the willful sharing of authority between colleagues. An environment of open, frank and wholistic communication between judicial officers and High Court judges is vital in achieving fair transfer policies, equitable distribution of work and transparency in promotion and assessment. Inspecting or administrative judges must ensure that their process of evaluating judicial officers is based on data collected over a period of time and not through mere inspections on designated days. The purpose we seek to achieve by this is to instill a sense of ownership and belonging in members of the district judiciary who are entitled to be judged based on their long term and consistent performance," CJI said.

During the address, the CJI also listed out the three key 'inclusivity' measures that should be endeavoured by the judiciary to uphold the principles of equality and justice.

These included 1. Developing a comprehensive framework of gender equality in decision-making; 2. Adopting measures to recruit, train retain and promote members from diverse and vulnerable groups and 3. Monitoring gender equality initiatives.

The need to openly discuss mental health issues and the emotional well-being of judicial officers was also re-iterated by the CJI. He emphasized that the emotional and mental well-being of the judicial officers had a direct correlation to efficiency in justice delivery and containing the public's faith in the working of the court.

“Judicial wellness is not a personal concern. But a democratic imperative for upholding rule of law and maintaining public confidence.”

On The New Curriculum For Training Of Judicial Officers

The CJI mentioned that the Centre for Research and Development of the Supreme Court has been preparing a white paper to integrate the state-level training modules of the State judicial academy with national and international best practices.

He added that the Centre is in the process of setting up a systematic nationwide curriculum for judicial training and harnessing technology to track judicial progress. The revised curriculum for training of judicial officers would focus on integrating

“New curriculum promises to bring innovative training methods, thematic framework, uniformity and training calendar and integrating judicial training with information technology and recasting the judicial academy to fill the knowledge gap and to a feedback and assessment methodology.”

In conclusion, the CJI also stressed the need to have better and more efficient working conditions for the judicial officers to ensure that their independence and freedom from fear and favour are not compromised due to financial setbacks.

“The judges will be protected by the system despite the fact that they retain their fierce independence...Providing working conditions in the district judiciary is the small price the nation pays for securing independence and impartiality. Financially insecure judiciary will be a grave danger to a stable democratic society.”

He recalled how previously President Murmu emphasized the need to de-clog our jails by not keeping petty criminals behind bars. The CJI expressed hope to “ inculcate a sense of independence and confidence, free of fear, in the minds of young judges.”

The event was also graced by President of India Draupadi Murmu, Justice Surya Kant, Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.

The event can be viewed here.