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CJI: if contempt powers go, executive will not obey court

Special Correspondent

“We are constrained to issue orders that will result in reforms”

Courts are careful not to come in the way of development
Pendency of corruption cases will lower country’s prestige

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If powers to punish for contempt are taken away from courts, none in the executive will obey their orders, Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan said on Saturday.

He was inaugurating a seminar on Legislature, Executive, Judiciary organised in connection with the golden jubilee of the Kerala Assembly here.

Mr. Justice Balakrishnan said the judiciary did not want to be a reformer. However, courts were constrained to issue some orders that would result in reforms. This was to protect the rights of the people. However, the courts were careful not to come in the way of development, and returned several PIL (public interest litigation) petitions for appropriate decisions by the government.

“It is often argued that Supreme Court should maintain restraint and should not violate legitimate limits in the exercise of its powers. However, this argument fails to recognise the constant failures of governance taking place at the hands of the other organs of the state, and that it is the function of the court to check, balance and correct any failure arising out of any other state organ.”

Mr. Justice Balakrishnan said the country needed at least 10,000 new subordinate courts. Now there were only 15,000 subordinate courts, where nearly 3,400 posts were vacant. He said he was trying his best to fill up the vacancies.

If one went by the standards in developed countries such as Canada, India would need more than two lakh courts. However, the government was not allocating money for setting up new courts. Many courts were functioning in old buildings with no space even for seating witnesses.

Recalling that a single amendment to the Negotiable Instruments Act resulted in 28 lakh cases of new litigation, Mr. Justice Balakrishnan pointed out that no additional court was, however, sanctioned to handle them. “The government should spend money for starting new courts.”

The Chief Justice said he had got an assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that 200 courts would be set up to try pending cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Now 6,100 cases investigated by the CBI had been pending for 6-7 years. The pendency of a large number of corruption cases would bring down the country’s prestige.

Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) leader, said his party favoured the setting up of a national judicial commission to oversee the appointment of judges. It could also look into allegations against judges.

Admitting that the executive often pushed decisions to the judiciary, Mr. Yechury said if the executive vacated its territory, the judiciary should return the matter to the executive for decisions.

The former Meghalaya Governor M. M. Jacob said separation of powers envisaged in the Constitution helped to keep the country united. If the administration was efficient, people would not go to courts.

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who presided, said judicial reforms did not gain momentum in the absence of creative criticism of the judiciary. There were complaints against the courts. But people and the media were afraid of raising them.

Assembly Speaker K. Radhakrishnan and Secretary N. K. Jayakumar spoke.

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