Supreme Court judge Justice AS Oka on Wednesday said that lawyers and judges often carry the wrong impression that public has full faith in courts..However, such an impression may not be entirely correct and one of the major reasons for lack of faith in judiciary is pendency of cases, he said."We kept patting our backs that citizen trust the courts, but we have to ask if citizens are saying that. I have been to villages etc. The statement that common man has full faith in judiciary may not be entirely correct. Out of 4.5 crore pending cases, 10 percent are over a decade old," the judge stated.Justice Oka pointed to court boycotts by lawyers as a major factor contributing to the increasing pendency of cases faced by the Indian judiciary each day. He said that lawyers taking recourse to unconstitutional means of protest cause great prejudice to the common litigant"Dr Ambedkar had warned that in independent India unconstitutional means of protest are prohibited. If today lawyers practicing in the high court takes recourse to something completely unconstitutional are we not causing big prejudice to litigants. We talk about great pendency in bigger high courts.. and who is contributing to it? Imagine there are 1000 bail applications before 5 courts and 100 will be taken up. If members boycott... Then the date will be given when the accused is entitled to bail. Then who is to blame?" he asked..The Supreme Court judge was delivering a lecture on 'Access to Justice' at an event organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) marking 75 Years of the Constitution of India..The judge said that both judges and lawyers also need to treat judicial time as the precious resource that it is.Both the bar and the bench can help respectively by refraining from unnecessarily lengthy arguments and writing more concise judgments. In this regard, Justice Oka recalled a case he recently came across where a defense lawyer cross-examined a witness for 95 days."We have forgotten that brevity is the hall mark of great advocacy. It is our problem also. We write long judgments. Judges also have to decide that no lawyer shall be allowed to hijack judicial time. Lawyers have to realise that our time is precious," Justice Oka said.He also called for greater understanding and consideration for judicial time when seeking and granting adjournments. .The judge also opined that judiciary must take criticism in its stride even when it is magnified by the media. The only exception is when criticism crosses into the territory of contempt of court.Justice Oka also observed that matrimonial disputes, which now see multiple rounds of litigation, make the situation worse.The judge also touched upon reluctance of courts to give bail in cases which are obviously deserving of bail."Another issue is why we do not give bail in obvious cases. There are cases where bail is denied and trial takes years.. and then after a decade or so, acquittal order is granted in cases where there is no evidence. We have to think of consequences in all of these," he said.Justice Oka also called for more efficient legal aid for victims and better protection for witnesses. "What kind of allowances are paid to witnesses? They spend their own money and the most neglected part in criminal justice system is the witness. Someone earning ₹20,000, can they afford to come to supreme court and pursue litigation? The answer is no and what legal aid will be given?" the judge explained.He also emphasised that the lack of adequate judicial infrastructure, especially in the district judiciary, must be addressed at the earliest. "When we celebrate the so called 75 years of the Constitution, we have to ask if we have fulfilled the constitutional guarantee extended to citizens of providing justice. The answer can be found with only proper introspection and this year is an important one for such introspection," Justice Oka concluded. .Apart from Justice Oka, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta too spoke at the event.The lectures were followed by the launch of the SCAORA E-Journal and the newly designed interactive SCAORA website by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Supreme Court judges Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, and Attorney General for India R Venkataramani..[Read Live Coverage]
Supreme Court judge Justice AS Oka on Wednesday said that lawyers and judges often carry the wrong impression that public has full faith in courts..However, such an impression may not be entirely correct and one of the major reasons for lack of faith in judiciary is pendency of cases, he said."We kept patting our backs that citizen trust the courts, but we have to ask if citizens are saying that. I have been to villages etc. The statement that common man has full faith in judiciary may not be entirely correct. Out of 4.5 crore pending cases, 10 percent are over a decade old," the judge stated.Justice Oka pointed to court boycotts by lawyers as a major factor contributing to the increasing pendency of cases faced by the Indian judiciary each day. He said that lawyers taking recourse to unconstitutional means of protest cause great prejudice to the common litigant"Dr Ambedkar had warned that in independent India unconstitutional means of protest are prohibited. If today lawyers practicing in the high court takes recourse to something completely unconstitutional are we not causing big prejudice to litigants. We talk about great pendency in bigger high courts.. and who is contributing to it? Imagine there are 1000 bail applications before 5 courts and 100 will be taken up. If members boycott... Then the date will be given when the accused is entitled to bail. Then who is to blame?" he asked..The Supreme Court judge was delivering a lecture on 'Access to Justice' at an event organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) marking 75 Years of the Constitution of India..The judge said that both judges and lawyers also need to treat judicial time as the precious resource that it is.Both the bar and the bench can help respectively by refraining from unnecessarily lengthy arguments and writing more concise judgments. In this regard, Justice Oka recalled a case he recently came across where a defense lawyer cross-examined a witness for 95 days."We have forgotten that brevity is the hall mark of great advocacy. It is our problem also. We write long judgments. Judges also have to decide that no lawyer shall be allowed to hijack judicial time. Lawyers have to realise that our time is precious," Justice Oka said.He also called for greater understanding and consideration for judicial time when seeking and granting adjournments. .The judge also opined that judiciary must take criticism in its stride even when it is magnified by the media. The only exception is when criticism crosses into the territory of contempt of court.Justice Oka also observed that matrimonial disputes, which now see multiple rounds of litigation, make the situation worse.The judge also touched upon reluctance of courts to give bail in cases which are obviously deserving of bail."Another issue is why we do not give bail in obvious cases. There are cases where bail is denied and trial takes years.. and then after a decade or so, acquittal order is granted in cases where there is no evidence. We have to think of consequences in all of these," he said.Justice Oka also called for more efficient legal aid for victims and better protection for witnesses. "What kind of allowances are paid to witnesses? They spend their own money and the most neglected part in criminal justice system is the witness. Someone earning ₹20,000, can they afford to come to supreme court and pursue litigation? The answer is no and what legal aid will be given?" the judge explained.He also emphasised that the lack of adequate judicial infrastructure, especially in the district judiciary, must be addressed at the earliest. "When we celebrate the so called 75 years of the Constitution, we have to ask if we have fulfilled the constitutional guarantee extended to citizens of providing justice. The answer can be found with only proper introspection and this year is an important one for such introspection," Justice Oka concluded. .Apart from Justice Oka, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta too spoke at the event.The lectures were followed by the launch of the SCAORA E-Journal and the newly designed interactive SCAORA website by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Supreme Court judges Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, and Attorney General for India R Venkataramani..[Read Live Coverage]
