Judiciary must ‘red-flag any populist decision': President at Patna HC centenary celebrations

Mukherjee said even though there had been pressure to fill vacancy of judges, there must not be any compromise appointment of judges.

President Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday at the launch of Patna High Court’s centenary celebrations that judiciary must “red-flag any populist decision” that can infringe upon one’s democratic rights.

Mukherjee said even though there had been pressure to fill vacancy of judges, there must not be any compromise appointment of judges. Chief Justice of India HL Dattu said judiciary would continue to remain independent.

Mukherjee, who marked opening of Patna High Court’s entering its 100th year of its functioning, released a postal stamp after the high court.

“There can be occasions of strains and divergence of views. Elected representatives, who have to fulfill people’s expectation. Judiciary must red-flag any populist decision that can infringe upon one’s democratic rights,” said Mukherjee.

The President added even though there are high number of vacancies of judges to be filled because of big number of pending cases, “under no circumstances, compromises should be made on appointment of quality judgdes”.

He maintained how Patna High Court had been short of 12 judges. The high court has 33,297 pending cases and sub-ordinate courts have over 20 lakh pending cases.

CJI HL Dattu said, “It is not right occasion to talk about issue plaguing the fraternity. Judiciary will always be independent. We are moving towards goals enshrined in the Constitution.”

The CJI described Bihar as “land handpicked by Almighty” for national awakening and honing political consciousness.

“Absolute adherence to basic rule of law and judicial independence holds the key,” said thr CJI lauding Patna High Court’s glorious journey that includes advocates like Dr Rajendra Prasad.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lauded Bihar courts for bringing highest number of convictions of criminals in last nine years.

“It is up to the high court chief justice to tell us what they need from the government. We have already recommended Centre to increase number of judges. The judiciary played a big role in law and order improvement in Bihar”, said the CM.

Union minister of communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “We have 97.5 Cr mobile phones and 30 Cr Internet users. IT will help greatly in justice delivery system.”

Union minister of law and justice DV Sadananda Gowda said the government had been working on a bill to opem commercial courts. “We have also started collecting national judicial data. Sanctioned strength of judges will also be increased,” said the law minister.

Striking a note of caution, Bihar Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi said, “While we must endeavour to ensure and safeguard an independent, impartial and credible judicial system, we must thwart any attempt to tinker with it or else judicial supremacy will be lost.”

Source:: Indian Express