The Chief Justices of all High Courts in the country have decided to crack the whip against corrupt judicial officers.
Taking a first step in the direction of cleansing the stables of the Indian judiciary, the Chief Justices, in a two-day conference started on August 14 here, passed a resolution that vigilance cells in all the High Courts should be strengthened and streamlined to deal with the corruption complaints against judges effectively.
The vigilance cell should be under the direct control of the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned and all complaints be routed through the Chief Justice.
In case of major penalties such as compulsory retirement, dismissal and removal from the service, the case should be placed before a full bench.
The conference passed 21 resolutions in all, and decided to reduce the pendency of large number of cases in various courts across the country.
A strategy should also be worked out by every High Court to streamline and improve the justice delivery system in the country so that faith of the people in the judicial system remained intact.
The Chief Justices decided to explore the possibility of increasing the working hours of the Courts by half an hour daily to reduce the number of pending cases.
They also decided to prepare and implement in consultation with the state government national judicial infrastructure plan to provide conditions conducing for working of the Courts such as reduction in power cuts and provide back-up system by installing a generator on the Courts premises.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of the High Courts, had expressed serious concern on backlog of pending cases in the country coupled with a large number of under trials languishing in jails for long years.
The Conference also decided to explore the possibility of making assignments to wipe out the arrears of pending cases. They will also monitor institutions, disposal and penalty of cases.
The Chief Justices, however, rejected the idea of appointing National Judicial Commission for conducting an all India competitive test on the lines of civil services for the recruitment of Judges in District Court and High Courts.
