Fear of targeting makes judges reluctant to grant bail: CJI
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud while speaking at an event on Saturday said that judges at the grassroots are reluctant to grant bail in heinous crimes. He said that at the lower levels of the judiciary, among judges, there is a fear of being targeted. He said due to the fear, the number of bail applications at the higher courts is multiplying.
Judges at lower levels understand crime
CJI Chandrachud at the felicitation event, organized by the Bar Council of India, remarked that the judges at the lower levels also understand cases. "Reluctance in granting bail is not because judges at the grassroots level do not understand crime, but the sense of fear among them has raised the number of bail applications at the higher level," the CJI said.
District judiciary is as important as Supreme Court
CJI also stressed that there was a "need to trust district judiciary, as it holds an equal place in the country's judicial system." He said that the district judiciary understands the needs of the people who knock on its door to seek justice. He also talked about the sophistication of the judiciary with technology, besides judicial infrastructure, legal education, etc.
Kiren Rijiju raised concerns over lawyer transfers
Union Law minister Kiren Rijiju, who also attended the event, raised concerns over the meeting of lawyers with CJI regarding transfers. He said that he heard that some lawyers want to meet CJI regarding the transfer cases. "It can be an individual issue but if it becomes a recurring instance then it will change the whole dimension," Rijiju said.
India has overburdened courts
Last week, CJI, during his speech at a summit, mentioned the overburdening of work in courts to hint at the shortage of judges. The deficiency of judges has been a decades-old issue, as in the year 2016, the then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur broke down in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while calling for increasing judge strength.
Vocal about issues India's judiciary face
Chandrachud, the 50th CJI, has been very vocal about the issues the judiciary is facing. In his 11 days of being in the office since November 9, besides hinting at the shortage of judges, he spoke about the reasons for overburdening of courts. Last week, he said the work burden in courts is due to government litigations, besides people's faith in the judiciary.
