New Delhi, April 7
A joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices today decided to double the number of judges in the country to 37,000 in five years in order to provide speedy justice to litigants embroiled in over three crore pending cases.

It, however, failed to arrive at a consensus on launching an All India Judicial Services on the lines of IAS and IPS as several states were apprehensive about its viability, mainly citing the need for using regional languages in lower court proceedings.

The move to raise the strength of judges would improve the judge-population ratio from the present 15.47 per million to 30 per million, still falling short of 50 per million as suggested by the Supreme Court in 2002.

The conference approved the proposal as part of a comprehensive agenda for legal and judicial reforms after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his inaugural address, called for a significant increase in the strength of judges to address the problems of pendency and delays in the disposal of cases.

Addressing a joint press conference with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on the outcome of the conference, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir said some of the states felt the concept of a national judicial service “is not implementable” and as such it required further consideration to iron out the differences. It was left to the states to find a solution and come back, he said.

The Law Minister, however, maintained that the proposal received “wide-ranging endorsement” in principle and only some “fine-tuning” was necessary.

At the conference, the Centre agreed to provide assistance to states for setting up additional courts and fast-track courts and meet 75 per cent of the expenses for providing infrastructure.

Asked about the recent execution of Afzal Guru, who had been sentenced to death for his role in the terror attack on Parliament, without informing his family members, both the CJI and Kumar said they did not want to comment on something that had already happened. However, they acknowledged that there was no policy for keeping such decisions a secret. “It is only fair that these decisions are brought to the notice of the family members.”

The CJI was asked about his views on the government’s move to make a law in the form of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, which had been approved by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha, debarring judges from making comments on the functioning of other democratic institutions - the Executive and the Legislature.

The CJI was reluctant to comment stating that he did not want to prejudice the views of the upper house where it was pending. However, he said judges should not make unnecessary oral comments while hearing cases.

In reply to another query, CJI Kabir defended the present Collegium system for the appointment of judges in the HCs and the SC, contending that “intensive information” was gathered and analysed before decisions were taken.

The conference agreed on the need to prevent persons accused of petty crimes from languishing behind the bars as undertrials. A sub-committee nominated by the CJI would be established to recommend ways and means for remedying the situation.

The Prime Minister said the national outrage over the brutal gang rape in Delhi “compels an urgent introspection about our laws and justice delivery system but we must not allow ourselves to be overcome by a sense of despair at some of the demonstrated inadequacies of our legal system.”

“At the same time, we must ensure that the voice of sanity and logic is not suborned to the momentary impulses of the day. Fundamental and time-tested principles of law and natural justice must not be compromised to satiate the shrill rhetoric that often defines our political discourse,” he said.