Need a modern and equal judiciary, says CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Monday said his mission is to have a modern and an equal judiciary where district judiciary is treated not as subordinates but as equals and technology can be used to make the working of the Supreme Court more transparent and objective.

In his first official interaction with the advocates of the at a felicitation event organised by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Monday, CJI spoke about the harsh reality facing the district judges of the country and said, “We should move towards a modern judiciary and an equal judiciary.”

Stating that “If we have to change, we have to change the face of district judiciary first and foremost,” he began by dubbing the expression “subordinate judiciary”, used commonly while referring to district judiciary as part of a “colonial mindset”.

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“We have fostered a culture of subordination... A great deal has to be done not only in terms of infrastructure of our district judiciary which is extremely important for which we have to lay the foundation stones today. But we must have to also change our mindset as superior court judges of SC and high courts of how we look at our district judiciary and how we perceive of them.”

Comparing the executive and judiciary in this regard, Justice Chandrachud pointed out that a junior IAS officer does not look at his superior with a sense of inferiority.

“That is not so in judiciary,” he said, referring to instances where it was convention for district judges to stand and even serve food when high court judges were sitting at the table for having food.

In another instance, Justice Chandrachud while being an administrative judge had noticed district judges who came to brief him in matters of vigilance cases would remain standing.

“I would go out of the way and say unless you sit, unless you sit with us on the table, I won’t have discussion or we won’t have our food,” CJI added.

He shared another instance that when a chief justice of a high court has to visits states, the district judge remains stationed at the entry and exit points of the state border.

“All this has to change. We have to inculcate a sense of self-worth in our district judiciary,” Justice Chandrachud said for which he asked the judges of the Supreme Court and high courts to first realise that district judiciary is the “core” and the “cornerstone” of our judicial system.

He took note of the fact that things are changing with the young judges who are joining the judiciary who speak from an equal footing.

“There is a demographic shift, a generational shift in our district judiciary as more women are coming in. The younger lot of judges are educated, bright, they have aspirations, a sense of self-worth, and confident about themselves,” he said.

Talking about his journey from the bar to the bench, Justice Chandrachud recalled how he had learnt from the doyens of the bar and the judges on the bench who shaped his career.

“Initially when I came to Supreme Court, I realised how uninitiated I was to law. I learnt at the feet of the greats of the bar and bench.”

When a suggestion was made by SCBA president and senior advocate Vikas Singh to consider elevating more lawyers from the bar as high court judges, CJI recalled his own story and said, “How can a member of the bar who has ascended to the bench consider these demands unreasonable.”

However, weighed down by the expectations and list of demands by the SCBA, Justice Chandrachud said, “I am not here to do miracles. I know that challenges are high, expectations are great. I am deeply grateful for your sense of faith.” He said his motto every day is to strive to make the world a better place every single day.

On a contentious issue of listing of cases which has often seen delayed listing of cases by registry while some important cases getting listed out of turn, CJI said, “We need to make listing transparent and objective and use technology to eliminate human interface in listing as all discretion tends to be not used properly.”

Recalling the concrete reforms taken by his predecessor, former CJI UU Lalit, the new successor felt that a standard operating procedure (SOP) should be put in place to institutionalise the process of listing of cases so that it does not depend on who becomes CJI.

He also spoke about judicial vacancies as a “chief problem” with 25% of district judicial posts and 30% of sanctioned posts in high courts remaining vacant.