Spare a thought for judiciary, CJI tells government

New Delhi, Aug 15  The Chief Justice of India, Justice T.S. Thakur, on Monday urged the government to pay attention to judiciary and address its problems.

Pointing to the delays that have crept into the justice delivery system on account of huge pendency, Chief Justice Thakur said that during British Raj a case used to be decided in 10 years time but now even that was not happening due to the huge backlog.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, he said he was wondering if he would say something about the country's judicial system.

At the start of a similar function in the Supreme Court, the knot did not open when the Chief Justice unfurled the national flag.

He said those manning the top judiciary were not weak if Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refused to be provoked by references to judicial appointments by the Bar Association leaders.

Bar Association Vice President Ajit Sinha earlier urged the minister to consult the Association while appointing judges. Its Secretary Gaurav Bhatia said judicial appointments should be made on time.

Explaining how finally the flag was unfurled, the Chief Justice said: "We took out the pole, undid the knot in the flag, refixed the pole and unfurled it."

In his address as a guest of honour, Law Minister Prasad said the appointment of judges would go ahead irrespective of whether a memorandum of procedure (MoP) was in place or not. 

He said the Modi government had taken this position right in the beginning of the year that the absence of MoP would not come in the way of the appointment of judges to higher judiciary.

Earlier, on Friday, Chief Justice Thakur urged the government to clear the appointment of judges as recommended by the Supreme Court collegium.