Justice Gogoi can usher in a judicial sea change

The Chief Justice has taken some serious decisions to improve the judicial process

Fifty-odd days is far too short a time to take stock of the work done by a new Chief Justice of India (CJI), but given that Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s term is just over 13 months long, it is clear he can’t dawdle. And the 46th Chief Justice of India isn’t. Justice Gogoi inherited the complicated issue of increasing vacancies of judges in high courts (HC), poor disposal rates of cases, and corruption in the judiciary.The first thing he did was to ask the chief justices of HCs to focus on getting judicial work done and on the need to combat corruption in the judiciary. He requested all chief justices that judges in HCs not take leave during working days and remain present in court rooms all through working hours. These may be basic steps, but they do help with the issue of disposal of cases.

The second issue that has occupied Justice Gogoi is the appointment of judges to HCs and SC. He has, in the short time he has been in charge, made four appointments to the top court and cleared appointments of 68 HC judges (both have been done by the SC collegium, which he heads), which is unprecedented. A bench headed by Justice Gogoi has, suo moto, registered a petition to monitor the filling up of more than 5,000 posts vacant in the trial courts. The inadequate number of judges is one of the reasons for high pendency in the lowest rung of judiciary.

Cleaning up the judiciary is on his agenda too and Gogoi has told the chief justices of HCs not to “hesitate in withdrawing judicial work from judges who are under a cloud.” CJI has already ushered in administrative changes in SC for quick disposal of criminal appeals that are awaiting final disposal in the court for more than a decade. If the changes Justice Gogoi has ushered in are continued at least till the end of his term, there will be a sea change in the way justice is administered in the country.