'Hope That Government Will Clear Collegium Recommendations For High Courts At The Earliest As Done For Apex Court': CJI NV Ramana

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday stated that he hopes that the Central government will soon approve the names of 82 persons for appointment to various High Courts that have been recommended by the Supreme Court collegium.

"After I took over, the Collegium has recommended, if I am not wrong, 82 names to various High Courts. I hope the Government will ensure that the names are cleared at the earliest just the way the 9 names were cleared for the Apex Court. It is an ongoing process. We hope to live up to the herculean challenge of filling nearly 41% vacancies existing in all the High Courts", the CJI observed.

He was speaking at a function organised by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to felicitate him.

The CJI further mentioned that it has been his endeavour to address the issue of vacancies in the higher judiciary on a priority basis. He also stated that while he had received a lot of praise for appointing 9 judges to the Apex Court in such a short period of time, he attributed such an achievement to the collective effort of the entire collegium.

"A while ago, I was referred to as Sachin Tendulkar. I must correct the perception here. Like any game, it is a team effort. Unless all the members of the team perform well, it is difficult to win. Here, I must place on record my sincere thanks to my colleagues in the Collegium - Brothers U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao - who have become active and constructive partners in this endeavour. Due to the collective efforts, as you are all aware, we could reduce the number of vacancies in the Apex Court to just one" , CJI Ramana remarked.

The CJI also praised Union Law Minsiter Kiren Rijju who was also present at the event for quickly clearing the names of judges for appointment to the Supreme Court. Rijju took over as the Law Minister after the Cabinet reshuffle in July.

"I told him (Kiren Rijiju) that pending vacancies are an issue and he cleared all the nine names within 7 days. This was a record time. I expect the same speed for the High Court names recommended by us. With a young and dynamic law minister in office, we can expect positive developments at a rapid pace", the CJI stated.

The Collegium headed by CJI Ramana, has in the past ten days alone, recommended 68 names for appointment to various High Courts.

He further addressed the issue of deficient infrastructure and shortage of administrative staff in various lower courts across the country. He mentioned that a proposal to create a National Judicial Infrastructure was in the pipelines.

"I have been emphasising on augmenting the infrastructure for very long. I have a proposal to address this issue in a time bound manner. A comprehensive proposal for creation of National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation is under preparation. We have collected the status report from across the country. A proposal in this regard will reach the Hon'ble Law Minister very soon. I expect full cooperation from the Government", CJI Ramana stated.

CJI Ramana also spoke about the financial constraints plaguing lawyers due to the ongoing pandemic. He mentioned that lawyers who could not adopt to modern technology had been left behind and that such a disparity was not good for the nation or the profession.

"The Bar Council of India and the State Bar Associations have taken several steps to ameliorate the condition of lawyers during these difficult times. Immediately after taking over as the Chief Justice of India, I have written to the Hon'ble Minister in this regard, requesting the Government to take necessary steps to help those in crisis. With the young and dynamic Law Minister in office, we can expect positive measures at a rapid pace."

Read the full text of CJI Ramana's speech here.