Judgeship must be incentivised, not everyone is a hermit: Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Datta

Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Datta on Saturday noted that many successful lawyers hesitate to become judges and better incentives are needed if capable legal practitioners are to join the bench.

Justice Datta was speaking at the first national conference organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on the theme “Reimagining Judicial Governance: Strengthening Institutions for Democratic Justice.”

Drawing from his own experience, Justice Datta said many successful lawyers hesitate to join the bench due to the relatively modest salary.

Recalling conversations with lawyers in the Bombay High Court, he said some had pointed out that the current pay makes the transition difficult.

“You don't have the core meritorious persons coming over to the judiciary. You need to incentivise them so that they come over. Not everyone is a hermit, that they would be not thinking about their lives and taking judgeship,” he observed.

Justice Datta also spoke about the pressures faced by judges while hearing cases throughout the day. He also cautioned against unrealistic expectations that they should sit beyond court hours to finish matters.

“You know, when a judge judges from 10:30 to 4, he has to keep his focus on the matter during the entire time. And the brain requires some rest. Otherwise, what happens is this. People take judging as a divine function. It is God who decides between two of the rival parties who is right and who is wrong. And in place of God, you have placed the judges,” he said.

Justice Datta highlighted the structural challenges confronting the justice system, noting that High Courts currently have several hundred vacancies despite a sanctioned strength of over a thousand judges.

He also pointed to the low share of State government budgets allocated to the judiciary. In this regard, he highlighted the Indian Justice Report which found that most states spend less than one percent of their budgets on the judicial system.

“State governments are supposed to contribute the lion's share to judiciary budgets, yet except for a very few, no state spends more than 1% of its budget on the judiciary,” he noted.

He held it is unfortunate that judges alone are often blamed for delays in courts.

“With 21 judges per million population, with a population of 140 crores, ever-increasing litigation, the people of the nation expect that the judges who are there are solely responsible for the delay. Nothing can be more unfortunate than this,” said Justice Dutta.

The judge suggested that the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court should be increased from 34 to at least 40 judges since the court’s pendency has nearly doubled since the current strength was fixed.

He further urged members of the bar to be mindful of the burden on the Supreme Court while filing routine special leave petitions seeking directions for early hearings.

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