Recommend names for elevation: CJI Ramana to high court chief justices

New Delhi, April 29

As 387 of the total 1104 posts of judges in various high courts remained vacant, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday urged high court chief justices to recommend at the earliest names for elevation.

“I request the chief justices of the high courts, which are still having a number of vacancies, to forward the names for elevation at the earliest,” CJI Ramana said in his inaugural address at the 39th Chief Justices’ Conference being held in the National Capital after six years.

Hailing the prompt response of the chief justices of high courts in recommending names for judgeship, the head of the judiciary said, “Due to our collective efforts, we could fill 126 vacancies in various high courts in less than a year.” “We are expecting 50 more appointments. This remarkable feat could be achieved because of your wholehearted cooperation and commitment to the institution,” he added.

The CJI also referred to the fact that in the last one year, the collegiums headed by him have ensured that nine new judges were appointed in the apex court at one go, besides 10 new chief justices for high courts, and thanked his colleagues in the collegiums for their cooperation.

Outlining the agenda of the meeting, he said the “aim and object of today’s conference is to discuss and identify the problems that are affecting the administration of justice”.

He said besides taking stock of the progress made in the implementation of the resolutions adopted at the last CJs’ conference in 2016, the conference will discuss appointments of judges in high courts, strengthening network connectivity at all court complexes across India and establishment of a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority.

Besides the CJI and CJs, it’s also be attended by two senior-most Supreme Court judges –Justice UU Lalit and Justice AM Khanwilkar

The Chief Justices’ Conference will be followed by the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices at Vigyan Bhawan on Saturday which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Supreme Court release stated. This joint conference is also being held after a gap of six years.

Justice Ramana also referred to the introduction of the “innovative FASTER system in the Supreme Court during this period” for communication of court orders to prisons and courts across the nation.

“Our conclusions and resolutions from today will form the basis of the deliberations at the joint conference tomorrow. We will take these up with the government and attempt to build consensus around the same,” he said.