<p>Once again highlighting the issue of vacancies in the judiciary and huge backlog of cases, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said the process of appointment of judges must be accelerated.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The CJI has flagged the issue in his public speeches on many occasions in the recent past.<br />"There are 12 judges per 10 lakh people in the country and at least three crore cases are pending in the courts. There is a need to speed up the process of appointment to vacant posts of judges," Justice Thakur said.<br /><br />He was addressing the first state conference of judicial officers, organised by the Chhattisgarh High Court and the State Judicial Academy, here.<br /><br />As per the Law Commission's report in 1987, 40,000 judges were needed then, but even today the strength of judiciary was only 18,000, he said.<br /><br />If the situation did not change, the figure of pending cases would cross five crore in the next 15-20 years, and crores of people would be deprived of justice, the CJI said.<br /><br />Appointments can be made gradually by setting a target for the next five years, Thakur said, adding that he had expressed his concerns on the issue with the Prime Minister too.<br />The foremost attribute of judiciary is honesty, he said.<br /><br />"If any person, belonging to any sector, is not honest, then he must be a trader ("dukandar"). An arbitrator should not be a trader and is not supposed to sell judgement.<br /><br /> Therefore, honesty is the foremost quality needed in the judiciary," the CJI said.<br />A good judge is the one who gives a patient hearing to both the sides before dispensing justice, Justice Thakur said.<br /><br />Supreme Court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre and Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Deepak Gupta were also present.</p>
<p>Once again highlighting the issue of vacancies in the judiciary and huge backlog of cases, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said the process of appointment of judges must be accelerated.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The CJI has flagged the issue in his public speeches on many occasions in the recent past.<br />"There are 12 judges per 10 lakh people in the country and at least three crore cases are pending in the courts. There is a need to speed up the process of appointment to vacant posts of judges," Justice Thakur said.<br /><br />He was addressing the first state conference of judicial officers, organised by the Chhattisgarh High Court and the State Judicial Academy, here.<br /><br />As per the Law Commission's report in 1987, 40,000 judges were needed then, but even today the strength of judiciary was only 18,000, he said.<br /><br />If the situation did not change, the figure of pending cases would cross five crore in the next 15-20 years, and crores of people would be deprived of justice, the CJI said.<br /><br />Appointments can be made gradually by setting a target for the next five years, Thakur said, adding that he had expressed his concerns on the issue with the Prime Minister too.<br />The foremost attribute of judiciary is honesty, he said.<br /><br />"If any person, belonging to any sector, is not honest, then he must be a trader ("dukandar"). An arbitrator should not be a trader and is not supposed to sell judgement.<br /><br /> Therefore, honesty is the foremost quality needed in the judiciary," the CJI said.<br />A good judge is the one who gives a patient hearing to both the sides before dispensing justice, Justice Thakur said.<br /><br />Supreme Court judge Abhay Manohar Sapre and Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Deepak Gupta were also present.</p>