Y.K. Sabharwal... new Chief Justice of India

NEW DELHI: The new Chief Justice of India, Y.K. Sabharwal, on Wednesday said it was for the legislature to decide whether the country needed stronger anti-terrorism laws.

"This is for the legislature to decide. It is none of the judiciary's business," he told a press conference here.

(On Monday his predecessor, R.C. Lahoti said the country needed a new law to tackle terrorism and that the political leadership lacked the will to frame it.)

Justice Sabharwal also said he would not air his personal views on the death penalty. It was for the legislature to decide what the maximum and minimum punishment should be for each offence.

Justice Sabharwal,who was sworn in by President A.P.J. Kalam on Tuesday, said he would look into the issue of 188 vacancies pending in courts throughout the country, including in the Madras High Court. The Supreme Court collegium had recommended to the Law Minister that the vacancies be filled. He said he did not know why there was a delay. He would examine each of these cases and see that steps were taken to fill posts before they fell vacant.

To a question on the Law Ministry's proposal to set up the National Judicial Council, Justice Sabharwal said Justice Lahoti had forwarded his views and it was up to the government to legislate on the subject. "We can only look at the legality and validity of such a law if it is challenged."

Asked about corruption in the higher judiciary, he said that so far peer pressure had worked to control the problem. "I do not know on what basis... it could be said that there is a certain percentage of corruption in the judiciary." He added: "But, if we are talking of corruption as an evil, we need to start with cleaning our own house."

Three-pronged approach

Justice Sabharwal said there should be a three-pronged approach to dealing with delay of cases: the number of judges should be increased in a phased manner, pending vacancies should be filled and judges should be able to utilise their time better.

It was important to segregate cases to decide which should be given priority. He would like to see strict monitoring of cases of terrorism, corruption and sexual harassment.

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