Judiciary ramshackled, judges can't be appointed like govt officers: Ex-CJI
Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, questioned the efficiency of India’s judicial system by saying that people who go to the court “regret" their decision and said the legal system is “only for those who can afford to take chances, like the big corporate”.
Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, who is now a Rajya Sabha member, questioned the efficiency of India’s judicial system by saying that people who go to the court “regret” their decision and said the legal system is “only for those who can afford to take chances, like the big corporate”.
“You want a 5 trillion-dollar economy, but your judiciary is ramshackled…If you go to court, you don’t get a verdict, all you do is wash your dirty linen,” Gogoi said at the India Today Conclave East on Thursday (February 11).
Emphasising on increasing workload on courts, Gogoi said that in 2020 about 60 lakh new cases have been added to subordinate courts, three lakh to high courts and 6,000-7,000 new cases to the Supreme Court.
The pending case count in subordinate courts has gone up to 4 crore, about 44 lakh in the high courts, and 70,000 in the Supreme Court.
Also read: Justice Gogoi, is your Rajya Sabha election just?
Gogoi stressed on having a plan to make judiciary efficient. “The roadmap I have in mind is to have the right man for the job. You don’t appoint judges the same way you appoint officers in the government. To judge is a full-time commitment. It is a passion. There are no working hours. It is a 24/7 job,” he said.
On Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s charges against him, Gogoi said, “Does a former judge ever get cowed down by attacks?”
Moitra had said that Gogoi was made Rajya Sabha MP because he ruled in favour of Hindus in the Ayodhya dispute and had rejected a proposal to initiate an inquiry against the Modi government in corruption charges in the purchase of fighter jets.
Gogoi said the TMC MP needs to get her facts right. “If you are making allegations, at least name the person. I have a name and I deserve to be named,” he said, adding he won’t approach the court against Moitra.
Asked about charges of sexual misconduct against him, Gogoi said: “No discussion about the judiciary is complete without reference to that case.”
