I won't let the Chair go to my head, vows CJI Dattu

Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu, has vowed to follow the advice of not letting the “Chair go to my head”. The Chair of CJI would never overshadow his philosophy of always being a common man, he said.

“I shall continue to remain an ordinary and common man,” he said at a function organised by the Advocates’ Association, Bangalore, to felicitate him here on Monday.
Terming himself a “destiny’s child”, Justice Dattu said he would ensure that as CJI, he would not bring any bad name to Kannadigas. “I assure you, while I may not be able to bring good name, I will not bring any bad name to Kannadigas and the State,” he said.
Overcome with emotion on the accolades showered on him on becoming the fourth Chief Justice of India from Karnataka, Justice Dattu expressed his gratitude to Justice Santosh Hegde, Justice Rajendra Babu and legal luminary R N Narasimhamurthy.

On the occasion, Supreme Court judge, Justice V Gopala Gowda, bemoaned the lack of adequate number of judges in relation to the number of cases filed in courts. The judiciary cannot be held responsible for the large pendency of cases in the country.
“Judges are doing a wonderful job. It is the Executive which is responsible for the pendency of cases. We do not have adequate number of judges to preside over and dispose of cases, in relation to the population of cases,” he said.

The overload of cases is “overworking” the judiciary and that needs to be resolved for speedy disposal of pending cases, he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appealed to Justice Dattu for the speedy disposal of cases. “Let there be speedy verdicts to ensure people do not lose trust in the judiciary,” he said.

Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar appealed to the CJI to invoke the “dead” Article 130 of the Constitution. “There is a provision in the Constitution, which gives the CJI the power to set up a bench of the SC anywhere in this country. Once approved by the CJI, it requires the sanction of the President of India. I appeal to Justice Dattu to give life to the dead Article 130 of the Constitution for setting up the first bench of SC in South India, and in specific, in Bangalore,” he said.