CJI & HC Chief Justices Meet To Discuss Evening Courts, Ad Hoc Judges; Supreme Court Holds Conference On State Judiciary Issues

The Chief Justice of India, two senior Supreme Court judges, High Court Chief Justices, and senior High Court judges met to discuss filling vacancies in High Courts, appointing ad-hoc judges, and establishing Evening Courts.CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Supreme Court Judges Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant led the discussions with the High Court Chief Justices and Judges. It may be noted that last week, the Supreme Court, to address the issue of case backlogs at High Courts, had relaxed the conditions to appoint retired High Court Judges as Ad Hoc Judges as per Article 224A. The idea of evening courts is also presented understandably to tackle the pendency issue.National Conference on State Judiciary IssuesThe meeting was held on Saturday (February 1) after the “National Conference on Addressing Issues Faced by the State Judiciary” organised by the Supreme Court under the guidance of CJI Sanjiv Khanna.The idea behind this Conference was to engage in a meaningful dialogue with different stakeholders and functionaries in the State Judiciary, especially the District Courts, to first understand the challenges being faced by them and thereafter, chalk out a plan to address the same.The Conference had four Technical Sessions, which covered diverse topics affecting the performance of the State Judiciary. The 1st Technical Session was chaired by Mr Justice Sanjiv Khanna and co- chaired by Mr Justice Abhay S. Oka, Mrs Justice B.V. Nagarathna; and Mr Justice Dipankar Datta. This session held discussions on ways to narrow the gulf between Institution & Disposal of cases; Identification of case types flooding the judicial dockets; Identification of bottlenecks in case disposal; Strategies to reduce backlog of cases at different levels.In the 2nd Technical Session, which was Chaired by Mr Justice B.R. Gavai and co- chaired by Mr Justice P.S. Narasimha and Mr Justice K.V. Viswanathan, the feasibility of having a uniform case categorization in different Courts was explored. In this Session, ways to leverage technology better to optimize the judicial processes was also deliberated upon.In the 3rd Technical Session, which was Chaired by Mr Justice Surya Kant and co- chaired by Mr Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Mr Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, there were discussions about timely recruitment of Judicial Officers and Court Staff; continual recruitment/empanelment of Public Prosecutors/Legal Aid Counsels/Legal Aid Defence Counsels; creation of a permanent IT and Data Cadre in all High Courts and District Courts; the need for an objective and transparent transfer policy of Judicial Officers; and measures to enhance objectivity in the process of recommending suitable candidates from District Judiciary for elevation to the High Courts.In the 4th Technical Session, which was Chaired by Mr Justice Sanjiv Khanna and co- chaired by Mr Justice Vikram Nath; Mr Justice M.M. Sundresh; and Ms Justice Bela Trivedi, there were discussions on Career Progression and Continuous Performance Evaluation of Judicial Officers; Mentoring of Judicial Officers by Inspecting Judges as well as State Judicial Academies; need for establishing a common curriculum for training and capacity building of Judicial Officers; and ways of ensuring accountability of Judicial Officers and Court Staff.Judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices and Judges of various High Courts graced the occasion. The Conference witnessed the participation of District Judges from all States and Union Territories. Senior officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice also attended the Conference yesterday.

CJI & HC Chief Justices Meet To Discuss Evening Courts, Ad Hoc Judges; Supreme Court Holds Conference On State Judiciary Issues

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