Overcrowding Of SC Court Rooms : CJI & AG Discuss Solutions

On Friday, Chief Justice of India, S. A. Bobde and Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal discussed the alternatives to the limited space available at the premises of the Supreme Court of India.

The AG has repeatedly brought up the issue of overcrowding of the courtrooms and the corridors. During the Felicitation Ceremony of CJI Bobde, the AG had recounted the incident wherein his junior had sustained injuries due to being pushed over and he himself being subjected to an elbow or two in his ribs.

Over the past week, the seating arrangement has been changed in the Chief's court and the aisle between the two rows has been done away with, thereby creating issues with regard to space for lawyers to approach the court.

The AG commented on the difficulty that this was creating for the movement of lawyers. To this, the CJI responded that it was merely an experiment and that the issue with lawyers resided in their inability to listen to the security personnel.

Sr. Adv. Indira Jaising, who was also present in the courtroom, suggested the construction of a new building. "If the Parliament can have a new building, why not us?"

However, the AG did not agree with this suggestion as he believed that the aesthetics of the age-old buildings could not be altered in any manner. However, he in turn suggested the construction of new buildings which could easily be connected to the main building.

The AG also put forward the idea of having a large hall when live streaming of proceedings began. The CJI and Jaising agreed that the process of live streaming would take away the pressure of people wanting to be present inside the courtroom.

The CJI informed both the lawyers that a meeting would take place with regard to the implementation of live streaming of proceedings, and he assured Jaising that both her and the AG would be consulted about the same.