RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, July 23: Chief Justice of India N.V.Ramana today shared the problem of judges while delivering Justice S B Sinha inaugural lecture at Judicial Academy here amid presence of Jharkhand High Court judges, faculties and students of NUSRL among others.
The Chief Justice said it is common perception that judges work from 10am to 4pm but this is far from the truth. He said judges have to work even on their off days and before applying their judicious mind they have to read much.
Expressing his concern over the physical attack on judges he said judges have no protection after their retirement and they have to remain with those against whom they have given verdict.
Talking about the importance of the judiciary, he said it is the most trusted organ of democracy.
The chief justice on the occasion expressed outrage over the irresponsible journalism in the country saying sometimes the media runs ‘Kangaroo court’ which is not healthy for democracy.
He said print media is still accountable while accountability of electronic and social media is zero. While giving his observation, the Chief Justice asked media persons to regulate themselves and work for educating and energising people.
Here are the top 10 remarks made by CJI Ramana during the event:
- “Biased views being propagated by media are affecting the people, weakening democracy, and harming the system. In this process, justice delivery gets adversely affected. By overstepping and breaching your responsibility, you are taking our democracy two steps backwards.”
- “Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts, at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide. Ill-informed and agenda driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy.”
- “If we want a vibrant democracy, we need to strengthen our judiciary and empower our judges. These days, we are witnessing increasing number of physical attacks on the judges.”
- “Politicians, bureaucrats, police officers and other public representatives are often provided with security even after their retirement owing to the sensitiveness of their jobs. Ironically, judges are not extended similar protection.”
- “In my humble view, in the absence of judicial review, people’s faith in our Constitution would have diminished. The Constitution is ultimately for the people. The judiciary is the organ which breathes life into the Constitution.”
- “Till a few decades ago, expectations from a judge were limited to the resolution of a dispute between parties before the courts. Now, every conceivable problem in society is expected to be addressed by the judiciary.”
- “In order to administer justice, the judges must be aware of the social realities and should not be confined as a social recluse. We must understand that impartiality and independence are a state of mind.”
- “There exists a misconception in the minds of the people that Judges stay in ultimate comfort, work only from 10 am to 4 pm and enjoy their holidays. Such a narrative is untrue.”
- “The judges cannot turn a blind eye to the social realities. The Judge has to give priority to the pressing matters in order to save the system from avoidable conflicts and burdens.”
- “Doing justice is not an easy responsibility. It is becoming increasingly challenging with each passing day. At times, there are also concerted campaigns in media, particularly on social media against judges.”
Read CJI’s full speech here:
[pdfjs-viewer url=”https://lagatar24.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/life-of-a-judge-speech_compress.pdf” attachment_id=”109920″ viewer_width=100% viewer_height=800px fullscreen=true download=true print=true]
PDF courtesy: NDTV
