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District Judges Reluctant To Grant Bail Due To Fear Of Being Targeted : CJI DY Chandrachud

Deepankar Malviya

20 Nov 2022 10:31 AM IST

    • District Judges Reluctant To Grant Bail Due To Fear Of Being Targeted : CJI DY Chandrachud

    The Chief Justice of India Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud spoke about the important role that the District Judiciary plays in the Judicial System. Speaking at the felicitation function organized by the Bar Council of India on Saturday, the Chief Justice of India highlighted that there should be a sense of equality between the District Judiciary and the High Court as well as the Supreme...

    The Chief Justice of India Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud spoke about the important role that the District Judiciary plays in the Judicial System. Speaking at the felicitation function organized by the Bar Council of India on Saturday, the Chief Justice of India highlighted that there should be a sense of equality between the District Judiciary and the High Court as well as the Supreme Court.

    Addressing the gathering, Chief Justice Chandrachud stated that District Judiciary is the first point of interface with the common citizens and it is equally important in the affairs of the nation's judiciary as are the High Court or the Supreme Court.
    Fear of targeting deters District Judges from granting bail; this floods higher courts with bail applications

    Addressing the need for a stronger District Judiciary, Chief Justice Chandrachud said that, "The way we look at the District Judiciary affects deeply our own personal liberty as citizens. If District Judges do not have the confidence in their own abilities, in their own respect in the hierarchical system, how would we expect a District Judge to grant bail in an important case."

    He added, "The reason why the higher judiciary is being flooded with bail applications is because of the reluctance of the grass roots to grant bail, and why are judges at the grass roots reluctant to grant bail not because they don't have the ability, not because the judges at the grass roots don't understand the crime. They probably understand the crime better than many of the higher court judges because they know what crime is there in the grassroots in the districts but, there is a sense of fear that if I grant bail, will somebody target me tomorrow on the ground that I granted bail in a heinous case? This sense of fear nobody talks about but, which we must confront because unless we do that, we are going to render our district courts toothless and our higher courts dysfunctional."

    He said, "Much has to be done for improving the service conditions of our district judiciary but above all we have to bring to our district judiciary a sense of dignity, a sense of self-worth, a sense of confidence in their own respectability which is why I always say that our district judiciary is not a subordinate judiciary. It is really the district judiciary which is equally important in the affairs of the nation's judiciary as are the High Court or the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may lay down the big-ticket judgments …. but the district judiciary in those small cases they define the peace, the happiness, the tranquillity and faith of common citizens."
    Need to improve judicial infrastructure
    Talking about the paucity of infrastructure in the District Judiciary, Chief Justice Chandrachud shared his personal experience of when he was the administrative judge of a district. He was informed that there were no toilets there for women judges and the women judges there felt extremely awkward to go to the public toilet because they would have to cross the undertrials who are sitting outside.
    Chief Justice Chandrachud stated that, "Our district judiciary is confronted with the paucity of infrastructure. The Central Government has a large number of schemes but the money which are meant for the district judiciary have to devolve on the district judiciary for improving the infrastructure……This is not just a problem of funds this is also a question of commitment of us to ensure that the funds which are made available are truly employed for the purpose for which they are intended."
    Chief Justice Chandrachud also stated that, "the process of dispensing justice is so intrinsically human that we have to learn to trust our district judiciary because it is when we learn to trust our district judiciary that we will learn to answer the needs of our common citizens who seek access to justice."
    Chief Justice Chandrachud also informed that on the event of the Constitution Day which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, will be attended by the Chief Justices of all the High Courts and where the Valedictory Message would be given by the President of India will be a stage for discussion on the topics of Infrastructure, technology, appointments everything that needs to be done in the Indian Judiciary beginning with the District Judiciary.
    Last week, speaking at at the Felicitation Ceremony held by the Supreme Court Bar Association, the CJI had addressed the need to change the feeling of "subordination" among the district judges. He added that the judges of the higher courts should change their mindset in seeing the district judiciary as "subordinate" judiciary.


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