Indian Judiciary should be revitalised

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit has recently taken oath as the 49^th Chief Justice of India. He is the second CJI who was directly elevated to the Supreme Court from the Bar. Justice SM Sikri, who became the 13^th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the Apex Court Bench in March 1964.

Justice Lalit was part of the 5-Judge Constitution Bench which ruled in August 2017 by a 3-2 majority the practice of divorce through instant ‘triple talaq’ as ‘void’, ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’.

In another important judgment, a Bench headed by Justice Lalit had ruled that the erstwhile royal family of Travancore has the management right over the historic Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, one of the richest shrines, holding that the rule of ‘heritability must get attached to a right of Shebait (servitor) of the temple’.

Another landmark judgment of Justice Lalit was the quashing of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala’s controversial judgment in the Bombay High Court on a POCSO case in which Justice Ganediwala had ruled that only skin-to-skin contact could be considered sexual assault.

Not only this, Justice Lalit was among the Judges who forced the withdrawal of the recommendation to appoint Justice Pushpa Ganediwala as a regular Judge of the Bombay High Court.

Justice Lalit also represented Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case before being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court in 2014. In this way, in the last few years, Justice Lalit has been involved in various fields in one way or another.

He has given principled judgments on many complex subjects with great ease. Hence, his name is respected in the Judiciary today. The appointment of such an individual as the CJI is certainly a good occurrence. We can expect similar high level work from him.

Chief Justice Lalit’s father Umesh Ranganath Lalit served as a High Court Judge after a long career as an advocate in his home State (of Maharashtra). When Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in the country, Umesh Lalit was working as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court.

At that time, Umesh Lalit had bravely done the work of bailing out innocent people who were accused of opposing the Emergency. Keeping this in mind, Indira Gandhi did not allow him to be appointed as a permanent Judge. This is the kind of injustice done to Judges who work in the national interests. It has to be said that with the appointment of Chief Justice Uday Lalit, an opportunity is being given to an accomplished family that has been working in the national interests.

Expectations of many changes

As Chief Justice Uday Lalit takes charge of the Indian Judiciary, he faces numerous challenges. More than 4,70,00,000 cases are pending in various Courts in India. One major reason for this is the adjournment of cases that come up for hearing. Indians have seen that the cases at the most personal level (such as the division of family wealth) drag on for generations.

Every sector in today’s society is bound by time limits. Even basic aspects such as education have to be completed within a certain time frame. One cannot sit for examinations of the same standard for years together ! Even in the industrial sector, one cannot spend much time on one product. Only if the product is made within a certain time frame, it is cost-effective to the manufacturer. The work in Government offices and Courts are areas where there is no limit on when they will start and end. As highways continue to be widened over the years, slum redevelopment becomes an source of income that feeds generations of politicians – Court cases have also been facing such a fate. How long should it take for one case to be disposed off ? In how many dates should the arguments be completed ? Putting some time frames on all this is required.

There is plenty of scope for sweeping changes in the Indian Judicial system, such as making the Judiciary more accessible to the common people, simplifying the processes so as to avoid fraud and obstruction of the petitioners by advocates, dispensing real justice to the victims and not just delivering verdicts, etc. Such changes can be expected from the newly elected Chief Justice. As a hint, he had asked at a hearing in July 2022 – ‘If children can go to school at 7 a.m., why can Judges and advocates not start working at 9 a.m. ?’ He has suggested that the Supreme Court should start working at 9 a.m. It is hoped now that since he has become the Chief Justice, he will take such a ground-breaking step.

It is necessary to bring swiftness in work

If the CJI takes it to heart, it will be a momentous step in the Indian Judicial system – the working time of Courts will increase along with increasing the pace and productivity of the Judges and advocates.

When it comes to the pending cases, the question of vacancies of Judges is raised. In fact, if the quality of the system is worked on, the number of cases will come under control and the victims will get justice at the earliest possible. Just settling law suits should not be seen as a ‘stock clearance sale’ of product manufacturers ! It is very important to heal the wounds of millions of lives. Therefore, reforms at all levels – administrative and judicial – are now mandatory for a new India. There is much to do, but Chief Justice Lalit has got only 74 days. We wish him the very best so that he makes the most of every day and revitalises the Indian Judicial system.

Making the Judiciary more accessible, simplifying processes so as to avoid fraud, obstruction, etc. are necessary !