The country’s Chief Justice NV Ramana on Saturday said that the legislature is passing laws without studying the implications of the laws, which will become a big problem. He gave the example of check bouncing (Section 138). Parliament criminalised the Negotiable Instruments Act but did not see that it put the magistrate courts under immense pressure.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court NV Ramana was speaking at the closing ceremony of the Constitution Day program here. He said that existing courts are being converted into commercial courts, but this will not solve the problem. These proceedings do not help reduce the burden of cases. He said that the issue of the burden of cases has many aspects. It cannot be reduced on the strength of the judiciary alone. He called upon the government to look into the suggestions given in the last two days to resolve the existing issues.
The Supreme Court had recently directed the Central Government to study the effect of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The court had held that the burden of litigation in the district consumer forums has increased due to the increase in the monetary limit. On Friday, it was suggested by the Attorney General that the Supreme Court should set up regional appeal courts so that the period of pendency in the apex court can be reduced and the court can look into constitutional issues. To this, the Chief Justice said that the Attorney General has taken up the reorganisation of the judiciary. This matter is for the government to consider. They do not think that any serious consideration has been given to the change in the judiciary structure after independence.
The Chief Justice also responded to allegations of adjournment of trials and lenient acquittals of offenders. He said that the reality is that in this case, the government prosecution, lawyers and all the parties should cooperate in the judicial process. It is not right to hold the court responsible for non-cooperation, flawed investigation and procedural lapses.
Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed in the program organised on Constitution Day that the central government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 9000 crore for the development of judicial infrastructure.
However, Chief Justice NV Ramana said the problem was not with the money but its under-utilisation. He reiterated the need for judicial infrastructure to ensure the proper utilisation of funds. He said that for this, there is a need to set up a judicial framework authority.