Senior Advocate and former Solicitor General of India (SG) Ranjit Kumar says the government should appoint fresh judges to fill the vacancies in the judiciary, instead of appointing retired High Court (HC) and Supreme Court (SC) judges to tribunals. The former SG was speaking to Moneycontrol about his suggestions for the new NDA government.
“The cases should be before the courts instead of tribunals. This tribunal business is actually a post-retirement haven for people,” he added, and noted that tribunals have not been able to deliver the kind of results they are expected to.
“Most tribunals are not able to cope with the work. We should expand the High Courts, expand the commercial code, make more appointments, and get rid of this tribunal culture,” he asserted.
Tribunals have faced heavy criticism for pendency of cases and delay in appointment of members. For instance, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which was established to provide speedy remedy to consumers against unfair trade practices, had a pendency of over 5 lakh cases as of September 2023 . Similarly, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has also faced criticism over pendency and delays.
Many tribunals are led by retired HC or SC judges. For instance, former Chief Justice of Madras HC, AP Sahai, is the Chairperson of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). Former SC judge Ashok Bhushan is the Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is led by DN Patel, the former Chief Justice of the Delhi HC. In fact, Patel was appointed as the Chairperson of the tribunal even before he retired from the High Court. This practice of appointing retired judges as heads of tribunals has been criticised for long.
“Look at our population, our unemployment, our aspirations. When you give an extension to a person, you are denying someone else an opportunity. I am not talking about the bureaucracy; I am talking about tribunals,” he said.
The former SG noted that it is important that the government expands the judicial infrastructure and appoints more judges. “Look at the judge-to-population ratio in India, which is a nation of 140 crore people. There are just 21 judges per million people,” he explained.
A parliamentary response in February 2024 by Law Minister Arjun Meghwal revealed that the country is yet to achieve the Law Commission of India’s 1987 target of 50 judges per million population.
Kumar noted that tribunals such as the consumer forums, the Debts Recovery Tribunal, etc. though introduced with noble intentions, have not done the job they were expected to. ``Judicial infrastructure has not been given much importance. If you have more judges, you will have more lawyers attending courts,” he added.
UCC, `one-nation, one-election,' may take a backseat
Clarifying that he does not have any political affiliations, Kumar noted that BJP’s promise of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and `one nation, one election' may take a backseat owing to their depleted numbers.
The results of the now-concluded Lok Sabha elections were declared on June 4. While the BJP-led NDA obtained a majority by winning over 290 seats, the BJP fell short of getting a majority on its own as it missed the mark by over 30 seats. The results were unexpected as many exit polls had predicted that the BJP would come back to power with a big margin.
The saffron party had promised the UCC and `one nation, one election' in its manifesto if it came back to power. The UCC is contemplated as a single law to govern the personal aspects of all Indian citizens, such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption. If implemented, the UCC will apply equally to all citizens, irrespective of their religion, sex and gender.
“Because it's a coalition government and everybody will have to be taken along in whatever decision the government takes, reforms — especially those which may have larger ramifications across the nation — such as the UCC or `one nation, one poll,' may take a hit,” Kumar explained.
The former SG also noted that it is unlikely that the implementation of the new criminal laws, which are are to come into effect from July 1, will be postponed.
“I don't see any reason why the implementation of these acts may be postponed. I don't see any reason why an alliance partner could ask for that, because nobody is saying that these laws are bad,” he added.
Three new criminal laws were passed in parliament during the last winter session. These laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023 — will replace the century-and-a-half-old Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act.
These laws received the President's assent on December 25, 2023, and the government notified in March that they will come into effect from July 1.
Ranjit Kumar was appointed by the BJP government as the SG in 2014 when the party returned to power after a decade. He served as the nation's SG for over three years, before resigning in 2017.
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