'Man with a mission'

Justice Ramana has an onerous task of achieving unanimity in the collegium not only to lessen the burden of pendency but also to fill the vacancies.

Hyderabad: “When people cannot reach us, we should reach them”. These were the golden words uttered exactly a month ago by Justice N.V. Ramana. While addressing an inaugural function at Delhi in which he was advocating for free legal aid to the people.

Sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India on Saturday, he is the second man from Andhra Pradesh to ascend the country’s highest legal pedestal, after Justice Koka Subba Rao, who held the position of CJI over five decades ago.

While delivering his Constitution Day speech in 2019, Justice Ramana had said, “We must fashion new tools, forge new methods, innovate new strategies and evolve new jurisprudence to render just decisions and grant appropriate relief to achieve the Constitutional objectives.”

It is widely believed that during his 16-month-long tenure as the Chief Justice of India, Justice Ramana will put his words into action accordingly.

About five years ago Justice T.S. Thakur had openly lamented that the judiciary is facing a credibility crisis. Rather than improving, the situation has only been worsening with the passage of time. None of the five vacancies in the Apex Court that had cropped-up during Chief Justice S.A. Bodbe’s tenure has been filled.

This year five more vacancies will add up to the list. Justice Ramana has an onerous task of achieving unanimity in the collegium not only to lessen the burden of pendency but also to fill the vacancies.

As the pending cases across the country reached the 4.4 crore mark, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court gave a green signal for the appointment of ad hoc judges under article 224 A of the Constitution of India. The responsibility of those appointments also falls on the shoulders of Justice Ramana. While setting the house in order, Justice Ramana will have to take forward the chariot of justice and at the same time forge ahead victorious as the Master of Roaster.

In the opinion of Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, the Chief Justice of India should have a tenure of at least 3 years in order to take up long-term reforms.

The Chief Justice of India should act in a dynamic fashion, with the support of the Legislature and the Executive, to ensure justice to all the countrymen as envisaged by the Constitution of India.

It is worth recalling the words of the former President of India, Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee, who had opined that many problems can be resolved if the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Justice of India meet periodically.

Judiciary is facing a fund crunch for the development of infrastructure as all the expenditure on it is being treated as non-plan expenditure. In addition to that Justice Ramana himself has pointed out recently that poor standards of legal education are another major cause of concern.

As the Chairman of the State Judicial Academy, Justice Ramana had strived for the improvement of the standards in the training of judicial officers. In the position of Chairman, National Legal Services Authority, he earned acclaim by most extensively conducting Lok Adalats. His ascension as the Chief Justice of India was rightly described as a “Ray of Hope” by the Supreme Court Bar Association.

At a time when the health system of the country is collapsing under the impact of Covid and the other institutions are also following suit in view of the parochial political considerations, the Supreme Court is the only bulwark left for the protection of people’s rights. Justice Ramana has a primal role to play in upholding the values and honor of the judiciary.

Justice Koka Subba Rao had earned a niche for himself in the legal annals of the country by reflecting his own natural traits of honesty and fearlessness in the remarkable verdicts he delivered. It is widely expected that Justice Ramana’s tenure too would proceed on the same lines.