Judiciary to see major changes

Major changes will be brought to the judiciary to ensure justice for all, said recently appointed Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday.

“I hope the changes will be visible within a month,” he said while talking to reporters after paying his respect to Saraswati, the deity of knowledge and the arts, at the Supreme Court Bar Association auditorium.

The chief justice said there are irregularities and anomalies in many sectors of the society, and time is needed to change the situation.

SK Sinha said many existing laws of the country should be updated.

SC sources said Justice Sinha has already taken a number of steps to bring change for improving the judiciary.

The chief justice has already extended work hours of officials of the Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court to increase the rate of disposal of cases and reduce the backlog of pending cases.

The lower court judges have been asked to hear and dispose of cases in a manner that ensures justice and disposal of maximum number of cases within a limited period of time, according to the sources.

Earlier on January 18, Justice Sinha emphasised doubling the number of judges in courts across the country.

He said around 3,65,059 cases are awaiting disposal at the SC and 24,95,944 in the district courts across the country.

There are only 94 judges in the SC and 1,500 in the district level courts, he said, adding that the number of judges was disproportionate to the number of pending cases.