(L) Chief Justice of India UU Lalit retires on 8 November. File photo/PTI
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”
– Vladimir Lenin
The above quote by Lenin starkly captures the short yet significant tenure of CJI UU Lalit. In a brief tenure of 74 days, the reforms introduced by CJI Lalit resolved long pending issues. It is noteworthy that the tenure, to a great extent, restored the functioning of the Supreme Court as a constitutional court. Thus, the tenure warrants attention to draw appropriate lessons for enhancing justice delivery in the future.
The role of the SC: A constitutional court
Legal scholar Tarunabh Khaitan appropriately captured the identity crisis of the Supreme Court. In his article, Khaitan highlighted how the Supreme Court increasingly has become a court of appeals, though the Supreme Court was meant to be a constitutional court. Simply put, the Supreme Court functioned more like a regular final court than having its prime focus on deciding issues of constitutional importance.
This trend was set right by CJI Lalit. During his tenure, many Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court were constituted which heard at length the issues of constitutional importance. 103rd Constitutional Amendment bringing in reservation for the EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) was heard and decided. Further, more contentious issues like CAA, NRC and electoral bonds were taken up for hearing. The court also heard at length the issue of demonetisation, though it is now argued that the matter has become infructuous and is more of an academic debate. These issues of seminal importance were previously kept on the backburner by the Supreme Court.
Strikingly, in the tenure of the previous CJI, no Constitution Bench was constituted and the court functioned merely as a final court of appeal. Former AG KK Venugopal mentioned on CJI Lalit’s farewell that many ‘buried’ Constitution Bench cases were taken up during the short tenure of CJI Lalit.
Reform to the listing system
One of the most fundamental yet neglected aspects in understanding the process of justice dispensation is that for adjudication the cases must be taken up by the Court. On account of the huge pendency of cases in the courts in our country (around 4 crores cases together, including around 60,000 cases before the Supreme Court), it remains a task for the cases to be listed more so when they are old. It is not unusual for the cases to be pending for years, awaiting listing before the courts.
CJI Lalit allowed priority in the listing of old cases. As a result, more than usual cases were listed before the benches resulting in a high rate of disposal of cases. Against the filing of around 8,700 cases, around 10,000 cases were disposed of by the court in his short tenure of 74 days. Further, 13,147 cases which were unregistered but diarized were junked by the registry. This reflects higher disposal of old cases.
Some issues yet unresolved
Despite the reforms undertaken by CJI Lalit, several issues did not see their final, logical conclusion. One such issue was the conduct of the Supreme Court registry. Several judges pointed out the problems with the functioning of the judiciary, including warning of strict action by a judge. CJI Lalit was quick to initiate an inquiry into the conduct of the registry. However, there is only so much that could have been in such a short tenure.
Way forward
Learnings from the tenure of CJI Lalit should be taken forward so that the working which at present is dependent mostly on the individual, i.e., the CJI, is institutionalised and attains a character which is more objective than subjective. In that sense, there must be at least one Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that functions at all times. Additionally, attention should be given to the working of the registry so that the justice delivery is smooth and the experience of all the stakeholders involves as little hassle as possible.
The author is an advocate at the Allahabad High Court and B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) graduate of NLSIU Bangalore. The views expressed are personal.
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