Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov 20: The District Judiciary is a crucial component of the judicial system, according to Chief Justice of India Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud. The Chief Justice of India emphasised that there should be a spirit of equality between the District Judiciary, the High Court, and the Supreme Court while speaking at the felicitation event held by the Bar Council of India on Saturday.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said that because the district courts are the first point of contact for ordinary individuals, they are just as crucial to the functioning of the country’s judicial system as the high court or the supreme court.
Addressing the need for a stronger District Judiciary, Chief Justice said that, “The way we look at the District Judiciary affects deeply our own personal liberty as citizens. If District Judges do not have the confidence in their own abilities, in their own respect in the hierarchical system, how would we expect a District Judge to grant bail in an important case.”
“The reason why the higher judiciary is being flooded with bail applications is because of the reluctance of the grass roots to grant bail, and why are judges at the grass roots reluctant to grant bail not because they don’t have the ability, not because the judges at the grass roots don’t understand the crime. They probably understand the crime better than many of the higher court judges because they know what crime is there in the grassroots in the districts but, there is a sense of fear that if I grant bail, will somebody target me tomorrow on the ground that I granted bail in a heinous case?,” he added.
“This sense of fear nobody talks about but, which we must confront because unless we do that, we are going to render our district courts toothless and our higher courts dysfunctional,” he further said.
Chief Justice Chandrachud discussed the lack of facilities in the local judiciary and related his personal experience from his time as a district’s administrative judge. He was told that there were no restrooms there for female judges and that it was quite embarrassing for the female judges to use the public restroom since they would have to walk through the undertrials, who were waiting outside, to use it.
“Our district judiciary is confronted with the paucity of infrastructure. The Central Government has a large number of schemes but the money which are meant for the district judiciary have to devolve on the district judiciary for improving the infrastructure……This is not just a problem of funds this is also a question of commitment of us to ensure that the funds which are made available are truly employed for the purpose for which they are intended.”
Chief Justice Chandrachud also announced that the Constitution Day event, which will be opened by the Prime Minister of India, will be attended by the Chief Justices of all the High Courts, and where the President of India will deliver the Valedictory Message, will be a forum for discussion on issues such as infrastructure, technology, and appointments, starting with the District Judiciary.
At the Supreme Court Bar Association’s Felicitation Ceremony, Chief Justice of India Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud also spoke about the need to alter district judges’ perceptions of subordination. He added that the judges of the higher courts should change their mindset in seeing the district judiciary as “subordinate” judiciary.
