Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices

"I am very happy to be with you at this very important joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices. This is an extremely valuable institutional forum for fruitful interaction between two vital wheels of the chariot of good governance - the Executive and the Judiciary. The enormous and often non quantifiable benefits of such meaningful dialogue in such exchanges cannot be overemphasized. Institutional interactions like this create a deeper understanding of each others' perspective, enhance trust and impart the necessary direction and momentum for processes of good governance.

The Indian legal and judicial system, in one sense, reflects a certain contradiction. India, the world's largest democracy and home to the second largest pool of lawyers, has legislatures elected by the world's largest electorate. It has the world's longest and most comprehensive Constitution, a fiercely free press and institutional bulwarks of freedom like the Election Commission of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Its judiciary is dynamic and completely independent and we take pride in this. Despite its unelected character, the people's faith has been reposed in the judicial organ in a very large measure. The legal system is manned by legal luminaries second to none in the world. Amazingly innovative legal doctrines and precepts have been the gift of the Indian legal system to the world. The "basic structure doctrine" and "public interest litigation" are but two examples. Judicial review has breached unprecedented frontiers. Yet, amidst such strengths, brilliance and dynamism, India has to suffer the scourge of the world's largest backlog of cases and timelines which generate surprise globally and concern at home. The expeditious elimination of this scourge is the biggest challenge for such conferences and should constitute the highest priority for all of us.

The mammoth number of pending cases cannot be allowed to disillusion or dishearten us. It has to spur us to even higher peaks of achievement and bring out the best from every stakeholder, acting in coordination to progressively overcome this great challenge. In this war, a holistic and multipronged approach is vital. There is no space for piecemeal, patchy or sectoral responses. However, grand mega plans must be tempered and accompanied by common sense, nitty gritty solutions. Adapting Thomas Hardy's admonition - if we take care of the small things, the big things will take care of themselves - we have to combine and harmonise both the big and the small. In this war on arrears, the entire legal system and each rung of it has to function as a seamless web and an indivisible whole. Naturally, the apex court has to discharge a vital role. It has to be a catalyst, an organiser, a mentor, an umpire, a participant , and, above all, a role model, all at the same time. I can assure this august gathering with all the emphasis at my command that my Government will not be found wanting at any level in this joint effort. We promise to match each step of the judiciary with two of our own. We will not hesitate to walk the extra mile at every opportunity.

The procedural, substantive, or attitudinal reforms which must be continuously and collectively applied to achieve results are diverse in nature. Meritorious individuals should be appointed timely to judicial posts, which have been enhanced at the High Court level by 150 in the last few years. The existing vacancies in High Courts are quite high in number and need to be filled up urgently. I would urge the Chief Justices of High Courts to initiate proposals for quickly filling up these posts. Vacancies at the subordinate level roughly comprise, I have been told, 20% to 25% of subordinate judicial posts. I am told that almost 3000 posts of judges in the country are vacant because of delay in recruitment. All these vacant posts at the subordinate levels need to be filled up without any further loss of time. The State Judicial Academies need to be strengthened for building capacities of judicial officers. Comprehensive computerisation and ultimate linking of all courts in the country into one mega judicial information grid needs to be tailored and adapted to enable screening of all pending cases. Such screening would facilitate disposal of many old cases as moot or infructuous. Despite the recent increases in judicial strength, there is scope for significant future increase in court strength to improve India's low judge per million population ratio. This is subject, of course, to expeditious filling of existing vacancies. The mechanisms and processes for providing legal aid to the marginalised sections of the society need to be improved.

Consensual Dispute Resolution - whether by way of arbitration or diverse forms of mediation - is an effective bypass to litigation, with significant preventive and curative virtues. The Civil Procedure Code now offers an empowering menu of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) choices. I am happy to note that court annexed mediation centres are now being created at different levels. But they remain still a drop in the ocean. The plea bargaining provided for by the law since 2005 has not been fully utilised till now. There is a need to give it wider publicity to reduce the pendency of cases and the number of under-trials in the country.

The Honorable President of India in her address to the Joint Session of Parliament in June 2009 has directed that a roadmap for judicial reforms be outlined in the next six months and implemented in a time-bound manner. I am happy that the Ministry of Law and Justice is working on such a road map. Shri Moily has also informed me that consultations on the reform initiatives have started with the various stakeholders. A National Consultation with jurists and stakeholders will be held in New Delhi very shortly. This will throw up the broad contours and set the stage for reform. But a lot of work will still have to be done for crafting a detailed blueprint and ensuring its implementation thereafter.

At the last Conference, I had mentioned that we had introduced the Gram Nyayalays Bill in Parliament. Though the legislation has since been enacted in January this year, it is yet to be enforced. I would urge that the state governments initiate immediate action to operationalize the Gram Nyayalayas Act in their States. Once the Act is fully implemented, we will have more than 5000 courts at the intermediate panchayat level. These will bring justice to the doorstep of the common people, who currently feel that getting justice in India is not only time-consuming and costly but sometimes also an intractable proposition. The Central Government has committed assistance to States for setting up the Gram Nyayalays. While there could be differing views on the adequacy of the assistance being provided, this should not hold us from speedily bringing the Act into force.

I am very happy to inform you that the Government of India, on the advice of the Chief Justice of India, has agreed to establish 71 additional CBI Courts in different states. Fast Track Courts should conduct their business differently and faster than normal courts; only then we shall be able to tackle the pendency in cases.

A matter of concern, indeed, worry, is the large number of under-trials in our jails. Many such under-trials have been in jail for periods longer than they would have served had they been sentenced. This is indeed very disturbing. There have been pronouncements of the High Courts and the Supreme Court on this issue but still the number of under-trials in jails continues to be very large. I sincerely hope this Conference will devote some time to this issue.

Let me conclude by suggesting to this august gathering that we take a vow to ensure that the enormous global respect for the Indian judiciary for its path-breaking doctrines and consistent independence be soon matched by similar accolades for an arrear free judicial institution. Like Gandhiji's common man, the focus of the judicial system should to be to wipe every tear of every waiting litigant. I hope your deliberations will be centred on the single most important stakeholder in this system- the consumer of justice. Unless we meet his or her legitimate demands and expectations in letter and spirit, we cannot rest in peace.

I congratulate the Chief Justice of India and my colleague, Shri Moily ji for having taken the initiative to organize this very important conference. Great importance is attached to your deliberations. Let me end by wishing you a very successful conference and all the very best in your endeavours."