The Hindu : New Delhi News : Efforts on to keep fast track courts alive: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Efforts on to keep fast track courts alive: Minister

By Our Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 12. The Union Law Minister, H.R. Bhardwaj, said here today that a national judicial council would be constituted to ensure accountability and transparency in the judiciary. The American as well as the Canadian models were being studied in this regard, he added while talking to media persons shortly after addressing a function organised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association in his honour.

He said that efforts were being made to provide funds for fast track courts and ensure that they continue to function because earlier the Finance Commission had given funds for their functioning for five years only.

While addressing the members of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association and responding to the demand made by the Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, for a separate High Court for Haryana, he said that the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well as the Civil Secretariat here should continue to serve the purpose for both the States. This, he said, was such a unique feature of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had no parallel in the world. However, during his interaction with the media, he clarified that he was no one to reject the demand of the State Government.

Referring to the other demands put forward by Mr.Hooda urging him to remove the imbalances in the existing Bench as there were only 11 judges from the State against the allocated quota of 21 judges, Mr. Bhardwaj said that after the vacancies were recommended, the judges would be appointed and if the workload increased more judges would be appointed. Later, he elaborated the point while talking to media persons saying that the vacancies existed because the collegium did not meet. The vacancies existed in five to six courts but the process was on to fill these as 110 judges had been appointed during the last 9 to10 months.

He also stressed the need for imparting training to young lawyers according to the changing times and said that as new laws were being implemented, the young lawyers should be apprised about their effectiveness and implication.

Without mentioning anyone directly, he regretted that the prestige of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had plunged deep during the last four years and it was "our responsibility to pull it out and restore its dignity''. The judges here were brothers and the Chief Justice was their brother.

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