Members in the Rajya Sabha on Friday pitched for judicial reforms, seeking "accountability" of judges and application of the Right to Information Act to all wings of the judiciary
NEW DELHI: Members in the Rajya Sabha on Friday pitched for judicial reforms, seeking "accountability" of judges and application of the Right to Information Act to all wings of the judiciary.
Participating in a debate on a private member's resolution on judicial reforms, members cutting across party lines sought speedy disposal of cases, reappraisal of the appointment procedure of judges and filling up of vacancies.
Calling for more High Court and Supreme Court benches, they said that the RTI Act should be applicable to all wings of the judiciary. At present, only the administrative branch is subjected to the RTI.
Moving the resolution, Vijay Darda (Congress) said that 1.5 crore cases were pending in different courts.
"Sixty per cent of the judges in High Courts are appointed through a system in which favouritism and corruption can take place. Such discretion should not be more than 10 per cent in any case," he said.
D. Raja (CPI) said it was disturbing to see "corruption" in judiciary. "There has to be a judicial accountability," he said. Abhishek Singhvi (Congress) demanded application of the RTI Act to all sections of the judiciary. Rama Jois (BJP) favoured the same, saying that it would increase efficiency and help in fast disposal of cases.
Singhvi favoured increase in remuneration at lower level of judiciary, which clears most of the cases. "The lower judiciary is in a bad shape," he said, adding that the judges-to-people ratio was abysmal. For one million people, there were 11 judges, when there should be a minimum of 50, he said.
Rajniti Prasad (RJD) said "nepotism" should be curbed in judiciary, while S S Ahluwalia (BJP) demanded frequent adjournments be stopped. He asked why the same court fee is charged from the poor as well as the rich corporates.
Shantaram Naik (Congress) alleged that public interest litigations (PILs) are being admitted without guidelines and court-appointed committees are taking over the functions of government departments.
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