President calls for a more inclusive and open judiciary

President Ram Nath Kovind advocated on Saturday more inclusiveness and transparency in the judiciary, saying public life today is like “a glasshouse” and the legal fraternity needs to be mindful of people’s “legitimate urges” for scrutiny and a transparent system.

The judiciary needs to represent the diversity of India, he said after inaugurating the National Law Day Conference in the national capital.

According to him, only about 4,700 of the 17,000 judges in lower courts, high courts and the Supreme Court are women, which is or roughly one in four.

“There is an unacceptably low representation of traditionally weaker sections such as OBCs, SCs and STs, especially in the higher judiciary. Without in any manner compromising on quality, we need to take long-term measures to remedy this situation,” Kovind said.

November 27, the day the Constitution was adopted in 1949, is observed in the Supreme Court as National Law Day. The conference was organised by the NITI Ayog and the Law Commission of India. The President said all three organs of the state — the judiciary, executive and legislature — are obligated to be models of good conduct. They need to be careful not to cross into each other’s finely defined space or give any opportunity to read transgressions even when none is intended.