New Delhi: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday submitted that the number of cases currently pending in courts across India will soon cross the 5 crore mark. Opining that the statistics are alarming, the Minister said that the main reason behind this increase in pendency is the lack of appointment of judges wherein 'the role of the center is being limited'.
Rijiju was answering a question posed by Congress MP Rajeev Shukla in the Upper House today, which pertained to issues of pendency of cases and the contentious issue regarding the 'Collegium system'.
The Minister claimed that the procedure of appointing judges under the Collegium system is not being followed as per the rules, thereby limiting the government's role in Collegium appointments. "As per the Constitution, the appointment of judges is largely a responsibility of the government -- which is not being complied with as of now. We are being limited in the Collegium appointment procedures. We are trying to reduce pendency. But to resolve the issue of Collegium appointments, the judiciary needs to be consulted," the Law Minister said.
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Responding to another one of Rajeev Shukla's concerns, wherein he asked if the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) -- which was struck down in 2015 in an apex court verdict -- can be revived, Rijiju said that the matter needs to be discussed, and he cannot make any comments on it yet.
"Ours is a Parliamentary democracy and NJAC was passed with a majority vote from Parliamentarians from both houses. Being a democratic setup run by the 'Parliamentary system' and the 'Constitution', this issue is a matter that needs to be discussed with the Court,"
However, he also said that the striking down of NJAC was against the will of the people and parliamentarians. "When the NJAC was stuck down, many jurists, retired judges, senior advocates, and others were against it."
SP Singh Baghel, MoS Law and Justice responded to a question from BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, who raised the issue of holidays being given to the Supreme Court and High Courts, its relation with the pendency of cases, whether the government will ban these holidays, and if this issue will be discussed with the CJI. "The government has no role in the domain. But we will raise this issue and this can be discussed with the court," Baghel said.
