July 26, 2018

He also said that litigation designed to provoke political debate should be avoided.

Today, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sounded a note of caution against politicizing internal differences between Judges while saying that independent judiciary is a sine qua non.

He was speaking at inauguration of the new court block of Delhi High Court which'll be dedicated exclusively for hearing Commercial Cases.

“If Indian democracy has to succeed, an independent judiciary is a sine qua non & judges of India - of the Supreme Court & High Courts – have led by example.

There'll be differences among the Judges, it has happened in the past too. But let us trust the foresight & statesmanship of the judiciary itself to settle those differences. Political process should never intervene. In the past, there have been differences but the political process never intervened.

The same degree of restraint I'd expect from my political colleagues across the board, Let us not politicize those differences”, he said.

“Collusive litigation designed to provoke political debate should always be avoided.”

Union Law Minister Prasad also spoke about the “pre-eminence” of the Delhi High Court.

“Delhi High Court has acquired a pre-eminent position in its 52 years of existence. In many ways, it provokes envy in High Court having a recorded history of more than 150 years.

"What has made Delhi High Court very pre-eminent? One is the location, it is situated in the national capital. 2nd, some of the best cases are decided here. Good quality of Judges & lawyers is another reason.”

Waxing eloquent about Justice HR Khanna who was a Chief Justice of Delhi HC, Prasad said,

“There have been Judges who became distinguished & outstanding. But for me, Delhi High Court produced an icon who would remain the shining symbol of Indian democracy for coming 100s of years - Justice HR Khanna. He stood for the cause of human freedom & liberty during the most trying times by giving a dissent in ADM Jabalpur. That dissent of Justice HR Khanna came as a beacon of hope to us.

The conduct of some of the Hon’ble Supreme Court Judges in ADM Jabalpur (unclear) & this shows the greatness of the Supreme Court of India that subsequently ADM Jabalpur was never referred to and ultimately it had to be set aside. That also showed the beauty of our court system, its independence & its courage.”

Importantly, Prasad also said that the govt. would be taking a decision on the slew of recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments to High Courts.

“In the year 2016, we appointed 126 High Court judges, the highest in last 30 years. In 2017 we appointed 115 High Court judges. This year, we've appointed 34 Judges till now. We've received 93 recommendations from the Supreme Court Collegium & by this weekend we'll be able to [unclear] a total 126 references to Supreme Court Collegium for appointment to different High Courts.”

Source PTI

Picture Source :