M A I N   N E W S

Bill to resurrect judiciary’s image soon
l Tainted persons not to be made judges l Three-year deadline for case disposal  l Priority to cases involving senior citizens, women and disabled l Commercial courts in every high court
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, October 21
The government is determined to “resurrect the credibility and image” of the judiciary without diluting its independence through the proposed Judicial Standard and Accountability Bill, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily announced today.

The Bill, aimed at replacing the Judges Inquiry Act 1968, would be put up for Cabinet approval in a week or two and introduced in Parliament in the winter session, Moily told reporters.

The proposed law had been drafted keeping in mind “certain happenings” in the recent days, the minister said. Obviously, he was referring to the corruption charges levelled against Karnataka High Court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran following the move to elevate him to the Supreme Court.

Responding to a specific query on Justice Dinakaran, Moily said he would not enter into a “public debate” on the issue as Constitutional functionaries were involved in the procedure of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.

At the same time, he said, “We would not like any tainted person to become a Judge.” While the Judges Inquiry Act was primarily meant for impeachment of high court and Supreme Court judges, the proposed law would have additional provisions for dealing with “corruption, misconduct and misdemeanour” quickly and effectively through other means, Moily said, without giving details of the proposals. He also did not rule out changes in the existing procedure for the appointment of judges.

The minister addressed the media mainly to announce the holding of a two-day conference at Vigyan Bhavan on October 24 and 25. It would be known as National Consultation for Strengthening the Judiciary towards Reducing Pendency and Delays.

Moily said he would make a “vision statement” on the opening day of the meet and this would be discussed by judges and judicial officers from all four regions of the country. The participants would then adopt a resolution, aimed at cutting down delays and dealing with pending cases.

The effort would be to reduce the average time taken for disposal of cases from 15 years at present to three years. In the next four-five years, all pending cases should not be more than three-year-old. A six-month deadline was being planned for completion of inquiry from the date of institution of a case. Judgements would have to be delivered within 15 days of completion of the hearing. Adjournments of hearings would not be allowed unless there was some “very, very strong reason”. At the same time, it would be ensured that “quantum and quality go hand in hand”.

Another Bill that would come up before the Cabinet within two weeks and Parliament in the winter session was the Commercial Courts Bill.

The Bill had already been circulated to various ministries and would provide for such courts in every high court. This would facilitate speedy disposal of cases and make the process of doing business in the country easier. At present, the World Bank had placed India almost at the bottom of the list of nations, based on the legal climate for doing business, he said.

There was a proposal for giving priority to cases involving senior citizens, disabled persons and women as the government did not want them do rounds of courts, merely “dreaming of justice”. Justice should become a “reality” for all vulnerable sections.The number of arbitration centres would be increased substantially to make India a hub for such activities, rivalling London and Paris.