Wherever we go, we always hear that the common man has great faith in the institution of the judiciary. We kept patting our backs repeatedly. But when 4.54 Cr cases are pending in subordinate courts, we will be wrong if we say that citizens have great faith in the judiciary, said Justice Abhay S Oka
“I think we have no right to say that... this should be said by citizens, litigants we should ask ourselves if citizens are saying this... it may not be fully correct such a pendency out of which 30 % cases are more than 10 years old... do you believe citizens have great trust? We must acknowledge our flaws and deficiencies. There is so much of criticism of courts and legal system and that is amplified by social media and electronic media”, he said.
Justice Oka was speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Advocates On Record Association (SCAORA) to celebrate 75 years of the constitution. Justice Oka was speaking on the issue of “BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE JUDICIARY AND THE CITIZENS”
“We should take criticism constructively. judges should be sensitive to criticism only when it borders on contempt”, he said
75 years of constitution... its not an occasion to celebrate this is the occasion to ponder if we have delivered justice..qualititative and expeditious justice given? Can we claim the common man has great faith in the judiciary when we have 4.54 crore pendency? He asked
The judge said that both judges and lawyers also need to treat judicial time as the precious resource that it is.
Both the bar and the bench can help, respectively, by refraining from unnecessarily lengthy arguments and writing more concise judgments. In this regard, Justice Oka recalled a case he recently came across where a defense lawyer cross-examined a witness for 95 days.
"We have forgotten that brevity is the hallmark of great advocacy. It is our problem also. We write long judgments. Judges also have to decide that no lawyer shall be allowed to hijack judicial time. Lawyers have to realise that our time is precious," Justice Oka said.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta also spoke at the event. He called for the re-Indianization of the judiciary to address the unique challenges faced by Indian citizens and said it is time to give due teight to the "leading lights" close to home. "A very significant issue before us is to re-indianise the Indian jurisprudence...In seeking illumination from other sources, the leading lights close to home have not been given its due," the SG said.
SG also voiced his concerns regarding the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes.
“This trend, coupled with widespread use of social media, is a cause for concern for the judiciary and courts will have to evolve and adapt to the new world”, he added.
"The rise of social media, artificial intelligence, and technologies such as deep fakes have also posed a concern. Indian jurisprudence which took shape in the earlier era of mass media, particularly print media, will be relooked at from the point of view of the new emerging modes and methods of communication", SG Mehta said.
"No longer are rights of people considered to be in silos disconnected with each other...In Shayara Bano, the court ended an outdated practice which was against the dignity of women. The practice of triple talaq was done away with. The Supreme Court is the ultimate protector of fundamental rights, and it is not only just a guardian of the same but has responded time to time. Whether education is a fundamental right or the development of sustainable development norms... The Constitution has been kept responsive to the emerging needs of the society," SG Mehta said.
The lectures were followed by the launch of the SCAORA E-Journal and the newly designed interactive SCAORA website by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Supreme Court judges Justice B. R. Gavai and SuJustice rya Kant, and Attorney General for India R Venkataramani.
SCAORA President Vipin Nair, Honorary Secretary Nikhil Jain, and Executive Members Astha Sharma and Aditya Giri were active in organising the event at the majestic Bharat Mandapam
Other office bearers of SCAORA are Vice President Adv Amit Sharma. Joint Secretary Adv Kaustubh Shukla, Treasurer Adv Aljo K Joseph, and Joint Treasurer Adv Vishal Prasad. Other Executive Members are Advocates Reena Pandey, Meenakshi Kalra, Pragya Parijat Singh and A Selvin Raja.