Legislature does not conduct studies or assess impact of law, leading to big issues: CJI Ramana

He was speaking at the valedictory ceremony of Constitution Day celebrations in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

Ahead of Parliament sessions, Chief Justice of Indian N V Ramana on Saturday said the legislature does not conduct studies or assess the impact of the laws which sometimes leads to "big issues" and result in over-burdening of cases on the judiciary.

Giving an example of Section 138 related to cheque dishonour cases of the Negotiable Instruments Act, he said, “Now, the already burdened magistrates are further burdened by thousands of these cases. Similarly, rebranding the existing courts as commercial courts, without creating a special infrastructure, will not have any impact on the pendency”.

Speaking at the valedictory ceremony of Constitution Day celebrations in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, he said the issue of pendency of cases in the judiciary is multi-faceted in nature and hoped that the government would take into consideration the suggestions received during this two-day programme and resolve the prevailing issues.

He said, "We must remember that whatever criticism or obstacle that we may encounter, our mission to render justice cannot stop. We have to march on in pursuing our duty to strengthen the judiciary and protect the rights of the citizenry."

Law Minister Kiran Rijiju said there cannot be a situation where it becomes difficult to implement laws passed by the legislature and verdicts delivered by the judiciary.

At times, in a bid to seek their rights, people forget about the rights of others as well as their own duties, he said, emphasising on a need to find a balance between fundamental rights and fundamental duties.

He noted that bills passed by Parliament and state legislatures, and verdicts delivered by the Supreme Court are the laws of the land.

"We cannot be in a situation where it becomes difficult to implement laws despite being passed by the Supreme Court, or high courts or Assembly and Parliament... we all have to ponder over it... Legislature, judiciary, executive, all sections of the society have to think as the country is run as per the Constitution," Rijiju said.

President Ram Nath Kovind reminded the judges that it was incumbent upon them to exercise the utmost discretion in utterances inside courtrooms.

Addressing the gathering of judges and lawyers, he said, "There is no doubt that you have set for yourself a high bar. Hence, it is also incumbent upon the judges to exercise the utmost discretion in the utterances in courtrooms. Indiscreet remarks, even if made with good intention, give space for dubious interpretations to run down the judiciary.”.

He also expressed anguish at the remarks made against judges in social media and called for examining the reasons behind it for the sake of a healthy society.

“There have been cases of some disparaging remarks against the judiciary made on social media platforms. These platforms have worked wonderfully to democratise information, yet they have a dark side too. The anonymity granted by them is exploited by some miscreants. I hope this is an aberration, and it will be short-lived," Kovind said.

Maintaining that independence of the judiciary is non-negotiable, he said, there is a need for an all India Judicial services. There will be other suggestions for reforms but the aim should be to strengthen the justice delivery mechanism, he added.

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