Noting that the judiciary was “overworked and understaffed” and unable to weed out “frivolous litigation,” Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday reminded the judiciary that not all disputes could be resolved through a court of law.
Speaking at the Annual Dr. Kailas Nath Katju Memorial Lecture here, Mr. Chidambaram praised judicial activism and public interest litigation for enlarging and protecting the fundamental rights of citizens but added that “there must be a dividing line between the right and wrong side” of judicial activism.
“I am clear that there are no judicial or court ordained solution to some problems, which only the executive and legislature can solve, often by a trial and error method,” said Mr. Chidambaram.
“Not every dispute can be resolved through a court of law. Not every dispute needs to be heard in the higher courts,” he remarked, citing the relief the Supreme Court got when it did away with hearing motor vehicle cases.
Besides the Minister, those who spoke on the topic “What Ails the Indian Judiciary” included the former Chief Justice of India, J. S. Verma, Supreme Court Judge (retd.) Kuldip Singh, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram, jurist and senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, and film director Mahesh Bhatt.
Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju was among the prominent persons who attended the lecture commemorating the former Union Home Minister, K.N. Katju, whose contribution to the freedom struggle included his defence of the accused in the Meerut Conspiracy Case and the INA (Indian National Army) trials.
Mr. Venugopal said it was time the apex court focused on constitutional matters and shed the burden of appellate jurisdiction. He suggested the formation of four regional “Courts of Appeal” in the four corners of the country to deal with appeal cases.
Mr. Venugopal regretted that India had not done enough to clear the backlog of cases as it kept growing every year. The jurist said the two-judge bench system in the Supreme Court was resulting in inconsistent judgments and advocated a bigger bench to arrive at “consistent and harmonious” judgments.
Dwelling on the contribution made by the judiciary since Independence, Mr. Ram said it had performed “relatively better” compared to the executive, the legislature and the bureaucracy.
Noting the recent pronouncements of Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia against overreach by the judiciary, Mr. Ram said: “It gives me confidence that the judiciary will not turn into a super-legislature.”
While acknowledging that the Press owed the judiciary for making Freedom of the Press a reality through repeated judicial interpretation, Mr. Ram voiced concern over the use of criminal defamation, intolerant attitude when contempt of court is invoked, and how the judiciary dealt with corruption within its ranks.
Justice Kuldeep Singh said India today presented a grim picture of rampant corruption. “Can the judiciary isolate itself from this chronic infection?” he asked, adding that the solution was to ring in accountability and transparency to ensure that good judges were appointed.
Justice Verma, who is also the chairman of the K.N. Katju Memorial Trust, said the reason the judiciary had become so strong in India was the public confidence in it. Referring to the recent public outcry against corruption and the call for a Lokpal Bill, he said it showed the faith of the people in the rule of the law.
He advocated legitimate judicial intervention, transparency in appointment of judges and accountability to the public “to ensure that public faith in the judiciary was not shattered.”
