Supreme Court Issues Notice On Lawyer's Petition For 'Judicial Vista', Special Judicial Infrastructure Authority

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice on a writ petition which seeks the construction of a "Judicial Vista" near the Supreme Court for better working conditions and the setting up of an independent authority to deal with judicial infrastructure in the country.

The petition has been filed by Advocate Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, the Secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association. The bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Aniruddha Bose on Tuesday issued notice in the writ returnable on March 30, 2022.

To enable access to better and dignified working conditions for the Judges, members of the Bar and officials of the Registry of Supreme Court, the writ petition seeks the preparation of layout and execution of the work of construction of "Judicial Vista" over the land adjoining the premise of Top Court.

Relief has also been sought in the plea to set up an Independent Central Authority funded by Consolidated Fund of India for raising up the judicial infrastructure across the country. It may be noted that the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on many occasions have spoken about the need to set up a special dedicated agency, like a National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation, for the development of judicial infrastructure.

It has been argued in the petition that the infrastructure that is available at the Supreme Court is disproportionate to the growth of the court in terms of number of Judges, the Registry, the bar and most importantly the volume of cases.

The plea also states that as per the details available on the website of the Ministry of Law and Justice, while there is sanctioned strength of 24291 Judicial officers in the country, there are only 20115 Court Halls available, only 17705 residential units for the Judges of Subordinate Judiciary.

"There is a grave need for a Central Authority dedicated to the infrastructural needs of the Judiciary at the Apex level, the High Court level, the Subordinate Judiciary level, the Statutory Tribunal level etc. Such an authority must be funded wholly from the Consolidated Fund of India, and ought to be under the administrative control of Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India. It is submitted that the Judicial Vista and other projects ought to be undertaken by such authority, in furtherance of the peculiar and specific need for judicial infrastructure. Such an authority would be in consonance with the rights guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution, and in the interest of the judicial infrastructure, which is an inseparable part of the justice delivery system, and in the interest of the ultimate consumer of the justice delivery system, the Litigant," the plea states.

SCBA Secretary in his plea has also stated that Judicial Vista would ensure meeting the needs of the Court, Registry, Bar and the Litigants since it would result in construction of large Multi Level Complex having Court Rooms, around 50,000 chambers for Senior Advocates, AOR's, substantial space for various Officers of Sections and Staff f the Registry, adequate medical facilities etc.

Case Title: Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad v. The Supreme Court Of India & Ors| WP (Civil) 1245 of 2021

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