Legal Workshop Series: CJI Ushers in New Frontiers of Statistical Analysis
On 31st July 2010, Justice S.H. Kapadia, the Chief Justice of India made the presidential address before the distinguished audience at the legal workshop series held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Before he began, P.H.Parekh, the President of the Indian Confederation of Bar, gave the audience a brief introduction, stating, “The CJI is a role model for the lawyers and law students of India. Our CJI talks less and does more. About 14 topics for the working sessions of this seminar were selected under his guidance.”
Legal Workshop Series: Calculation of Arrears is not Proper, Says CJI
From Justice S.H. Kapadia’ inaugural address, there was much to reflect on and be inspired about. Such is the passion and technical accuracy with which he spoke about the administration of justice under the Indian Constitution. His speech was growth-oriented, inspiring and focused on the micro-details of myths surrounding the administration of justice, particularly pertaining to delays.
The Chief Justice began the presidential address by delving into how no effort has ever been made to validate the accuracy of statistical information to segregate pendency of cases from arrears. According to Justice S.H. Kapadia, though there is so much talk about pending cases in the High Courts and Subordinate courts, the actual numbers are not properly calculated nor classified because no one has made an attempt to dissect the statistical information before.
He gave the example of the Delhi High Court, where he stated that 40% of cases are one year old and 62% cases are less than one year old. With spirited momentum, the Chief Justice of India asked, “Can you call that pendency or arrears? Why has no distinction been ever made between the two? If you have filed a case last month and you are waiting for six months for the preliminary proceedings to begin, that is pendency, not arrears. How can it be construed as arrears?”
He further stated that if cases that are pending for a year can be excluded from being categorized as arrears, then in December 2009, Delhi High Court had 22,75,000 cases. He announced that he will appoint a team of statistical experts to make accurate classifications of pendency and arrears related cases. Following this, as the Chief Justice of India, he would establish track-specific cases so that the delivery of justice can be quickened and judges can identify what type of cases are taking more time and why.
Justice S.H.Kapadia stated further, “Track 1 cases would be sticky cases, meaning they would be complex and would take time to decide by its very nature. Track 2 cases would be subverted cases and easily identifiable because one party is trying to delay it. Track 3 cases would be relating to cases that have process serving delays.”
Legal Workshop Series: I see SC Senior Lawyers in court only on Mondays and Fridays, Says CJI
At the legal workshop, the Chief Justice of India expressed optimism that the new generation would come into the legal community and initiate changes and legal reforms but he pointed out that we need legislative reforms as well.
He pointed out three essential ingredients that the justice system in India lacks:
- We lack settlement culture and specialization.
- We must bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
- Senior lawyers must contribute to the growth of the legal community.
The Chief Justice of India stated that in other countries, senior lawyers make every attempt to mentor and grow the other members of the legal community as well as make academic interpretations and theses to further the cause of their justice system. Then, the Chief Justice put forth a highly critical statement about the eminent, senior lawyers in Supreme Court by stating, “Senior lawyers appear in court only on Mondays and Fridays. I don’t see their contributions in any other realm.”
Justice S.H. Kapadia’s spirited presidential address was completed by quoting the words of Swami Vivekananda, “My name should not be made prominent, it is my ideas that should be.”
[Swapna Raghu Sanand, Editor @lawisgreek.com, is the author of this report on the Presidential Address by the Chief Justice of India at the All India Seminar on Judicial Reforms.]
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