The 39th Conference of Chief Justices of High Courts has started at the Supreme Court premises under the chairmanship of CJI NV Ramana.
The aim of the Conference is to address and resolve issues concerning Judiciary.
CJI is accompained by other senior judges of the Supreme Court - Justice UU Lalit and Justice AM Khanwilkar.
It shall rerview the progress made on Resolutions passed in the previous Chief Justice's Conference- 2016 and also consider the further steps needed to be taken to improve the justice delivery system in the country.
In the Welcome Address delivered by Chief Justice of India, he touched upon a wider range of issues from pandemic and its hardships, development of FASTER to NALSA's non-stop functioning, appointment of Judges.
Read full address @LatestLaws
I am happy to be with you all. This conference is long overdue. Your presence here at such a short notice shows your commitment to strengthening our judicial institution and improving the justice delivery system.
When I assumed this office towards the end of April last year, we were in the midst of most devastating second wave of COVID pandemic. We had little respite for a few weeks and were again struck
by third wave towards the end of 2021. We all went through trying times. Yet, because of the grit and determination displayed by all of you, we could make sure that the functioning of the constitutional courts is not derailed. Administratively, it was a big challenge. We had to struggle to take care of colleagues, officers and staff of registries, advocates and litigants. At the same time, we could evolve stable online systems to make sure that the functioning of the courts is not adversely effected. We did our best to promote access to justice. We have even managed to introduce innovative FASTER system in the Supreme Court during this period.
On the judicial side, the Courts across the country have offered huge respite to the people who were struggling to survive the pandemic. I congratulate all of you for contributing to the humanitarian efforts in your own way.
NALSA continued with its services, uninterrupted, offering relief to millions of marginalised during this period. Unfortunately, we ended up losing many colleagues, officers and staff
and advocates to the pandemic. I offer my sincere condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives due to pandemic.
Today, we have gathered here for the 39 th Conference of the Chief Justices, after a gap of 6 years. My first interaction with you in June 2021 was through video conferencing. Thereafter, we had further interactions on different occasions. From time to time, you have been bringing various issues of concern to my notice and I have been taking up those issues with the Government of India.
The aim and object of today’s conference is to discuss and identify the problems that are affecting the administration of justice. Today, in addition to taking stock of the progress made in
implementation of the resolutions adopted six years ago, we will also be taking up discussion on the following 6 agenda items:
1. Strengthening of IT infrastructure and connectivity at all court complexes pan India on priority basis,
2. Human Resources / Personnel Policy - Needs of district courts,
3. Infrastructure and capacity building: Institutionalising the mechanism for augmenting and creating state-of-the-art judicial infrastructure,
4. Institutional and legal reforms,
5. Appointment of High Court Judges,
6. Emoluments of High Court Judges and augmenting post retiral benefits of High Court Judges.
I do not wish to elaborately discuss the agenda items in this welcome address. However, I would like to highlight the issue of vacancies. You may recall that one of my first communications to you was about the filling up of vacancies. I have also requested all of you, in our very first online interaction, to expedite the process of recommending names for elevation to High Courts, with an emphasis on social diversity. I am happy to note that the response from some of the High Courts has been extremely encouraging. Due to our collective efforts, we could fill 126 vacancies in various High Courts, in less than an year. We are expecting 50 more appointments. This remarkable feat could be achieved because of your wholehearted co-operation and commitment to the institution. I request the Chief Justices of High Courts, which are still having number of vacancies, to forward the names for elevation at the earliest.
In the past one year, we have got nine new judges to the Supreme Court and 10 new Chief Justice for High Courts. I thank my Brothers in the Collegium for their cooperation. I am looking forward to a fruitful and productive discussion today on all the agenda items. My Brothers Justice Lalit and Justice Khanwilkar will guide us through these discussions.
All of you have rich experience of more than ten years as Judges. You will be able to analyse the subjects objectively and make constructive suggestions. With your free and frank views on the
subjects being discussed, we will certainly be able to arrive at meaningful conclusions.
Our conclusions and resolutions from today will form the basis of deliberations in the Joint Conference tomorrow. We will take these up with the Government, and attempt to build consensus around the
same.
With these words, I welcome you all once again and I wish the conference all success.
The Conference shall be followed by the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 30th April, 2022 which will be inaugrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
