New Delhi, May 27
The Chief Justice (CJI)-designate, Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti, does not subscribe to the view that the corruption in the judiciary has attained alarming proportions and the CJI needs more powers to deal with the alleged indiscipline among the judges.
Describing as perfect the existing system of in-house procedure under which a collegium of the Supreme Court deals with any act of 'indiscipline' among the judges, Mr Justice Lahoti said in an interview to The Tribune that the CJI had the moral authority to deal with such a situation.
"The Chief Justice of India has the moral authority to deal with any act of indiscipline in judiciary and the moral authority has to be used properly, promptly and effectively before the situation goes out of hand," he said when his attention was drawn to a Punjab and Haryana High Court-like situation where the judges had gone on mass protest leave.
Asked about the corruption in the judiciary in the light of recent incident when an Ahmedabad Magistrate issued non-bailable warrants against the President and the CJI allegedly on payment of bribe, he said it was wrong to say that the judicial system in the country was "corrupt".
"I don't subscribe to the view that the judiciary is corrupt. A casual aberration of one or two incidents does not mean that the judicial system is corrupt. There may be black sheep in it, but it is only an aberration. You can call judiciary corrupt if corruption is generated by judiciary itself. Those manning the system are not corrupt en bloc," he added.
He assured the country that adequate care would be taken of any corrupt practice in the system. "We cannot stick to the old mindset. We have to evolve solutions to new problems that surface. The mechanism is there, it has to be activated," he said.
He said the biggest testimony of people's faith in the judiciary was the increasing number of cases. "It indicates that the people of the country have great faith in the judiciary. They see it as a forum where they can pray for justice. They believe that there may be delay, but there will be justice," he said.
Asked about his priorities when he takes over as the CJI on June 1, he said his immediate task would be to strengthen the existing judicial system.
He also put computerisation of the functioning of courts on the top of his agenda; saying in the age of IT revolution the judiciary was still sticking to the old technology.
"There is need to introduce information technology in administration of courts. While other organisations and institutions had adopted it as a main tool in their functioning, the courts have yet to take first step in that direction," he said.
He also plans to focus on establishing a judicial academy for research in the legal field and for
training of judicial officers. “Setting up of a national judicial academy for research, training and judicial education is required in the wake of evolution of new laws like the cyber laws. This will cater to the requirement of modern-day judiciary,” he said.He emphasised on evolving a system of conciliation and mediation in the Indian judiciary, which, he said, should become an integral part of the justice delivery system.
“Such a system is very successful in California and the disposal rate is very high there,” he said. It would bring down the cost of litigation, he added.
Asked whether his idea of mediation and reconciliation was akin to the lok adalats, he said it was different from the lok adalats and arbitration as they decide the cases, but the mediation and reconciliation would resolve them.
On being asked that justice in the country was available to the rich only and not to the poor, he said it was like that. “It is not entirely true. I will put it the other way round. When a rich or important person gets relief from the court, it gets wide publicity in the media, but a poor man getting the same relief goes unnoticed,” he said.
Asked as to how he felt on being appointed the CJI, he said, “Dispensing justice is an attribute of God. Blessed are those on whom the responsibility is bestowed. And still blessed are those who accomplish this assignment with pride, dignity and honour or a sense of fulfilment. But my performance should be assessed after I demit the office.”
