Govt will make judges accountable
REFORMS seem to be the order of the day for the new UPA government with the law ministry on Friday announcing a significant step aimed at tackling infirmities in the top judiciary. Union law minister Veerappa Moily announced that the government would introduce a Bill in the upcoming Parliament session to make judges declare their assets and liabilities.
The move, which has faced some resistance from the judicial establishment, is aimed at bringing more transparency in the workings of the Supreme Court and high courts of the country.
The minister said his ministry’s plans for judical reforms would be made public within a month or two, thus keeping up the pace of reform-driven moves in the UPA government flagged off by the HRD ministry.
Mr Moily stressed that the finer details of the legislation’s framework would be decided in consultations with the judicial establishment. “The Act will be an instrument by which the accountability will be ensured,” Mr Moily told ET, adding that the move would be an important part of his ministry’s 100-day agenda.
The government has a draft Bill ready but the minister stressed there was no “confrontational line” with the judiciary.
“The judges are going to declare their assets and liabilities. It is wrong to assume that they (judges) are against it,” he said while talking about taking the matter to the Cabinet.
So far SC judges have voluntarily disclosed their assets and liabilities to the Chief Justice of India (CJI). However, the CJI has refused to place the statements in the public domain, insisting a law be first enacted to prevent misuse of such information.
The Bill, along with the Women’s Reservation Bill and a legislation to set up commercial courts in four metropolitan cities, will form the thrust of the law ministry’s agenda for the upcoming Budget session beginning July 2. The move to set up commercial courts in the four metros is aimed at putting in place a system within the judiciary to handle high value cases as well as those involving arbitration.
The ministry also plans to put in place a mechanism to make legal system “affordable and accessible” to the “last man in the line”, said the minister, as well as cut out the delays in the workings of the courts. This overhauling of the judicial system will be discussed at a seminar at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, Mr Moily added.
Speaking at a press conference in the Capital, Mr Moily said the road map to judicial reforms would include ways to reduce the burden of cases on the judiciary. He said 50,613 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, 38 lakh in different high courts and nearly 2.64 crore in district courts.
Meanwhile, Mr Moily also admitted that execution of death sentence of Afzal Guru, convicted for the attack on Parliament in 2001, was being delayed because several mercy petitions had been pending. “You cannot just pick, choose and hang,” he said in an interaction with reporters here. “Nowhere does it happen in the world, including in Pakistan.”
The move, which has faced some resistance from the judicial establishment, is aimed at bringing more transparency in the workings of the Supreme Court and high courts of the country.
The minister said his ministry’s plans for judical reforms would be made public within a month or two, thus keeping up the pace of reform-driven moves in the UPA government flagged off by the HRD ministry.
Mr Moily stressed that the finer details of the legislation’s framework would be decided in consultations with the judicial establishment. “The Act will be an instrument by which the accountability will be ensured,” Mr Moily told ET, adding that the move would be an important part of his ministry’s 100-day agenda.
The government has a draft Bill ready but the minister stressed there was no “confrontational line” with the judiciary.
“The judges are going to declare their assets and liabilities. It is wrong to assume that they (judges) are against it,” he said while talking about taking the matter to the Cabinet.
So far SC judges have voluntarily disclosed their assets and liabilities to the Chief Justice of India (CJI). However, the CJI has refused to place the statements in the public domain, insisting a law be first enacted to prevent misuse of such information.
The Bill, along with the Women’s Reservation Bill and a legislation to set up commercial courts in four metropolitan cities, will form the thrust of the law ministry’s agenda for the upcoming Budget session beginning July 2. The move to set up commercial courts in the four metros is aimed at putting in place a system within the judiciary to handle high value cases as well as those involving arbitration.
The ministry also plans to put in place a mechanism to make legal system “affordable and accessible” to the “last man in the line”, said the minister, as well as cut out the delays in the workings of the courts. This overhauling of the judicial system will be discussed at a seminar at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal, Mr Moily added.
Speaking at a press conference in the Capital, Mr Moily said the road map to judicial reforms would include ways to reduce the burden of cases on the judiciary. He said 50,613 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, 38 lakh in different high courts and nearly 2.64 crore in district courts.
Meanwhile, Mr Moily also admitted that execution of death sentence of Afzal Guru, convicted for the attack on Parliament in 2001, was being delayed because several mercy petitions had been pending. “You cannot just pick, choose and hang,” he said in an interaction with reporters here. “Nowhere does it happen in the world, including in Pakistan.”
Source: ET
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