A very nice article by Mr. Pallav Mukharji Ji from Chandigarh for Indian Judiciary...........
A Railway officials' response to CJI getting emotional seeking more Judges.
"DON'T CRY, MILORD !
(JustDON'T CRY, MILORD !
(JustDON'T CRY, MILORD !
(Just do your job)
Your Honour !
Indian Railways are struggling with nearly 30% vacancies in the cadre of track maintainers.
We are also short of 20% Loco Drivers over the sanctioned strength.
Indeed, we are short of manpower by the given yardsticks in almost all areas.
But, we run ALL the trains with 90+% punctuality,
we carry all the goods cheaper than any other mode and our safety is improving every day.
We add new trains every year, run specials during festivals and holidays without additional resources.
Our online ticketing is rated to be the best in the world.
Our stations and trains are cleaner than ever, quality of food is improving and so is the passenger satisfaction across the country.
True, we lack resources for expanding our network, but we do our assigned job well and without complaining.
We are also short of 20% Loco Drivers over the sanctioned strength.
Indeed, we are short of manpower by the given yardsticks in almost all areas.
But, we run ALL the trains with 90+% punctuality,
we carry all the goods cheaper than any other mode and our safety is improving every day.
We add new trains every year, run specials during festivals and holidays without additional resources.
Our online ticketing is rated to be the best in the world.
Our stations and trains are cleaner than ever, quality of food is improving and so is the passenger satisfaction across the country.
True, we lack resources for expanding our network, but we do our assigned job well and without complaining.
We don't keep a pendency in running of trains.
We do not have a hundred or a thousand trains waiting to run tomorrow or next week just because we have vacancies in our ranks.
Yet, we find that the media, political parties and public at large are ready to accept backlog of cases in our courts on account of vacancies !
We do not have a hundred or a thousand trains waiting to run tomorrow or next week just because we have vacancies in our ranks.
Yet, we find that the media, political parties and public at large are ready to accept backlog of cases in our courts on account of vacancies !
Yesterday you cried, Melord !
You lamented the vacancies in superior courts and stated that vacancies were the reason for pendencies.
In my heart, though I don't think believe that you subscribe to that view.
Vacancies can never be zero.
I read in the newspapers, after the NJAC judgement, that the real problem of the judiciary is vacancies – 30% of late.
But the pendency is older than this recent spurt in vacancies, which has worsened due to the NJAC issue.
I have learnt that twenty-four High Courts together sit on a pile of some forty-five lakh pending cases.
Appeals in criminal cases against conviction are waiting to be heard for as long as thirty years, more than the maximum sentence in the cases.
I am certain all this cannot be explained away by vacancies alone.
In any case it was the collegium, which ought to have filled those vacancies.
You lamented the vacancies in superior courts and stated that vacancies were the reason for pendencies.
In my heart, though I don't think believe that you subscribe to that view.
Vacancies can never be zero.
I read in the newspapers, after the NJAC judgement, that the real problem of the judiciary is vacancies – 30% of late.
But the pendency is older than this recent spurt in vacancies, which has worsened due to the NJAC issue.
I have learnt that twenty-four High Courts together sit on a pile of some forty-five lakh pending cases.
Appeals in criminal cases against conviction are waiting to be heard for as long as thirty years, more than the maximum sentence in the cases.
I am certain all this cannot be explained away by vacancies alone.
In any case it was the collegium, which ought to have filled those vacancies.
The only way to overcome this problem is that those, who are in the saddle, work a little harder to compensate for the vacancies.
All of us do that in government, public sector or private enterprises.
We work longer hours till late evening, on weekends, forego personal leave and certainly do not go on summer vacations.
Even Secretaries to the Government of India are now required to punch-in their attendance sharp at nine AM every day.
Surely, working longer hours is not anathema to you, My Lordship !
All of us do that in government, public sector or private enterprises.
We work longer hours till late evening, on weekends, forego personal leave and certainly do not go on summer vacations.
Even Secretaries to the Government of India are now required to punch-in their attendance sharp at nine AM every day.
Surely, working longer hours is not anathema to you, My Lordship !
I often get judgements and awards from courts for compliance within two months, one month, or even a fortnight.
I have no option but to burn the midnight oil and fulfil the orders in the judgement.
How I wish I could one day beseech or request, though certainly not order Your Lordships, to deliver a judgement in two weeks since an important developmental project is held up, a contract is getting annulled or an international agreement is at stake !
But, that would be a contempt of court, I guess.
I have no option but to burn the midnight oil and fulfil the orders in the judgement.
How I wish I could one day beseech or request, though certainly not order Your Lordships, to deliver a judgement in two weeks since an important developmental project is held up, a contract is getting annulled or an international agreement is at stake !
But, that would be a contempt of court, I guess.
We have all heard Justice Ruma Pal, who candidly showed the mirror to the judiciary by enumerating its seven sins – turning a blind eye to a colleague’s indiscretion, hypocrisy, secrecy in appointment of judges, plagiarism and prolixity, verbose judgements, personal arrogance, professional arrogance and nepotism.*
So, here is my two penny advice.
All of these are within your purview.
Maybe, if you followed some of these, you could smile the day you lay down your office.
All of these are within your purview.
Maybe, if you followed some of these, you could smile the day you lay down your office.
1. Tell your colleagues and subordinate judges to come to office at 9:00AM and not leave before 5:00 PM.
2. Fix a yardstick for judges and courts by which their performance will be measured - limit number of hearings, limit the total span of time over which a case is heard and limit the number of pages a judge will write in his award.
3. Spend quality time in courts hearing arguments and delivering justice and stop playing the adjournment game,
better known as tareekh-par-tareekh.
better known as tareekh-par-tareekh.
4. You and your fellow judges in superior courts are also supervisors to lower judiciary.
Do that job well.
Pull up the lazy ones and compel them to deliver.
Do that job well.
Pull up the lazy ones and compel them to deliver.
5. Force some discipline on lawyers to come in time and come prepared on the first appearance itself.
6. Learn some English and unlearn all that Latin. Make it simpler for the common man
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