Keep faith in judiciary: CJI-designate to common man

CJI-designate Justice S A Bobde on Thursday asked the common man of the country to “keep faith” in the judiciary.

“Judges always transcend their personal perception and beliefs” in deciding a case, he said, in an interaction with reporters at his residence here.

“There are always differences but judges are united,” he said, emphasising that the judges interacted informally among themselves.

He tried to steer clear of any controversy, surrounding the judiciary, by avoiding to answer any query related to four senior-most judges' press conference on January 12, 2018, mainly on the allocation of cases.

With regard to claim that the government always tried to control judiciary, Justice Bobde said he did not want to get into that controversy.

He favoured use of technology including Artificial Intelligence in courts. Besides, he said long term measures like improvement in legal education and short term measures like sufficient staff and better infrastructure were required.

To a question of giving reservation in higher judiciary, he said, “It has not been considered correct so far. We have regional representation. It is the Supreme Court of India. India must be represented (here)”.

Justice Bobde, who is the second senior-most judge in a five-judge bench which heard the Ayodhya dispute case, said, “I don't know of any other similar dispute being heard by any court. It is a subjudice matter. Let's not discuss it. There are many issues being considered.”

He said initially, there were several problems, including the lack of translated documents, to get the Ayodhya case ready for hearing. There was no deliberate delay, he added.

Justice Bobde, set to take over as the 47th CJI on November 18, does not want any changes in the Collegium system of appointment of judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. “The NJAC judgment is there. Nothing for me to comment on.”

On being asked about transparency in Collegium decisions, he said, “The perception now is that negative things about the candidate need not be expressed. If we do not want to approve the candidate there is no need to make the issues public.”

On his plan for Live streaming of important cases, he said, “I haven’t examined this issue yet. It is an important issue.”

63-year-old Justice Bobde, who likes riding bikes, said, “I used to have a Bullet (Royal Enfield)”.

After being appointed as the next Chief Justice of India he said, “My mother is there, I informed my mother first and took her blessings.”

He said, “I have many role models. I have had the privilege of sitting with three of the best judges Justice R M Lodha, Justice B N Shrikrishna, and Justice CK Thakkar.”