Justice Joseph wants timeline for judges' appointment

Senior Supreme Court judge, Justice Kurian Joseph, who was one of the four judges to address a press conference against the Chief Justice of India, on Friday took on the Union government over delay in appointment of judges.

He suggested for time-bound clearance of the recommendations made by the Collegium. He said the government should act within two weeks on recommendations made for appointment to the Supreme Court, while the names sent for high court judges should be cleared within three months.

Justice Kurian was speaking in an inauguration of a conference on National Initiative to reduce pendency and delay in judicial system here.

He also said the judge's retirement age in high courts and the Supreme Court must be raised to 70 years from the current 62 and 65 years respectively.

Justice Joseph also said the chief justice, though the master of the roster, must seek the assistance of other brother and sister judges, in the allocation of cases.

In his address, Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the trial length per case must be cut short to utilise the judicial time. The scope of artificial intelligence must be explored to reduce the judicial time, he said.

In his speech, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra emphasised the need for adopting innovative methods to reduce the delays in disposal of cases.