Judicial reforms

The judicial reform ship floated by the government three months ago with law minister Veerappa Moily as captain has had a smooth sailing till now thanks to tail winds generated by intense public opinion that virtually forced SC judges to bow to demands of transparency. Moily’s roadmap on judicial reforms had four components — make judges declare assets; make them accountable for misconduct; reduce the huge pendency of over 3 crore cases in trial courts and the high courts; and speed up the snail paced justice delivery system. There had been a long pending demand for making judges declare their assets. But, it gained momentum after SC in its judgment made it mandatory for politicians to declare their assets every time they contested an election. The government as well as the judiciary was saved the blushes with the CJI and SC judges taking a historic, though belated, decision to voluntarily post their wealth declarations. The government is working on Judicial Accountability Bill to provide a mechanism to rein in errant judges. At present the CJI sets in motion an internal inquiry the recommendations of which are at best a transfer. The UPA government’s priority is to reduce the over 3 crore cases pending in the trial courts (2.67 crore) and HCs (38 lakh). It is in the final stages of preparing a blueprint on appointment of ad hoc judges for clearing the backlog and tune up the justice delivery system to reduce the average life of a litigation from 15 years to 3 years. PRIORITIES To reduce pendency of 3 crore cases to manageable levels by 2011. To reduce litigation life from 15 years to 3 years by 2011. To bring in a law to make judges accountable for misconduct. MISSES Judges Assets Bill way off the mark, SC judges virtually make it redundant. Promise of laptops for trial court judges by 2009 not kept. No concrete plan to persuade states to increase trial court judges’ strength. CHALLENGES Finance. Will Centre assist states? Executive’s role in appointment of judges. Will the impeachment mechanism finally be simplified?

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