As An Institution, We Have Tried To Deliver Much More Than What Is Reasonably possible: CJI Gogoi Tells Judges [Read Full Text]

On his last working day as the CJI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi addressed over 650 high court judges and judicial officers from his chambers, via video conferencing.

Gogoi took charge as the CJI on October 3, 2018. He has led benches in several significant cases like the Ayodhya Title Dispute and the National Register of Assam. His term is set to expire tomorrow, i.e., November 17.

Discipline in Courts

In his address, Gogoi expressed satisfaction and hope that the Judicial institution shall rest on "strong shoulders".

"I have witnessed how our Institution is fighting against all odds on all front and how each one of you at your respective stations have kept the hope of justice resolute amidst disorder and socio-economic upheaval," he said.

However, he was also worried about the state of affairs in courts vis-a-vis discipline and attitude of certain delinquent officers.

"Within our Court Complexes, there is an increasing indifference to the decorum and discipline that were always the hallmark of our Institution. Sadly, such indifference lies more amongst some of the stakeholders who are part of the justice delivery infrastructure, yet are completely indifferent to its health and progress. I say this with conviction that the leaders and thinkers of the future need to revisit the dynamics and processes of our justice delivery mechanism, if the majesty of the Courts as the sentinels of justice and guardians of the constitutional vision is to be safeguarded and carried forward. The indifference of such stakeholders to the dignity of our Institution has reached new lows in the recent past, as rank hooliganism and intimidatory behaviour has become the order of the day in some pockets of our Court system. This has to be acknowledged, so that its vicious designs are defeated and the glory of our Institution stands uncompromised."

The CJI then called upon the high courts, positioned as the Guardian authority, to be watchful of the state of affairs at the high court level as well as the District and the sub-ordinate levels.

"The High Courts must be watchful that…Court Complexes as well as their processes and functioning are kept away from the influence of local factors and that they function as one unit across their entire jurisdiction. As an Institution, it is time that we heavily invest in vigilance functions that would keep our Court Complexes, our judicial processes, our Judges and our staff safe from the clutches of such local influences who do not have any allegiance to our Institution but use our processes to carry out their nefarious designs," he said.

Conduct of the Bar

CJI Gogoi said that the courts did not have any administrative control over the litigants or their Advocates and that it was for the parties and Advocates alone to realize their role in the justice delivery mechanism.

"It is certainly needs to be said especially in light of events that have befallen our institution across the country over the past few years that Ld. Advocates and the Bar Associations as well as their elected representatives in the Bar Council have to sit down and introspect as to their actual role in getting matters ready for hearing in this regard. In my view self-regulation and self-realisation amongst the members of the Bar that they are officers of the Court would be a better way ahead then any legislative mandate that might come in case the citizenry make it their focus in a democracy to usher in such a change."

He added that the courts did not work like government offices who have to follow a single chain of command, and that given the number of variables involved during hearing of a case, a fixed tenure for disposal of cases could not be set.

Pendency and Backlog

The CJI did not restrain from commenting on the problem of huge pendency of cases. Ever since his appointment, he has been vocalizing on the lack of judicial appointments and the increasing number of backlogs.

He told the officers that as per the statistics of an in-house study at least 48% pending cases were criminal matters where no appearance/ production of the accused had been made, while 23% were civil matters which were fixed for 'appearance of parties'.

"This defies logic and sound reasoning. In fact, this is almost insane to include in the figure that would constitute pendency before us. The future leaders would have to seriously dwell on this word, define it and install a framework, so that nothing which is not a pendency before a Judge, is ever framed as a pendency figure of our Institution," he remarked.

He said that that even though they were segregated in their judicial and administrative capacities, they were all enjoined by the same goals and by the same oath of the Constitution, binding them all with the "singular pursuit of justice".

"I have no hesitation in sharing that our legal system is not only Indian but is it also has its roots deeply embedded in the common aspirations that binds all of our countrymen to a single destiny.

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…do not forget ever that you are a part of a greater narrative that has a major role in unifying and integrating the citizenry and strengthening the justice delivery architecture of the nation. In that context, each one of you is a nation builder and your day-to-day duties towards citizens at large and to the litigants in particular are all part of one single mechanism."

Read Full Text Of Speech Here