Law Minister assured appointment of 9 HC chief justices to be cleared soon: CJI

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Saturday said Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has assured that the recommendations made by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment of judges to high courts, which includes the appointment of 9 chief justices, will be cleared in a day or two.

Justice Ramana was speaking at the launch of a 6-week long ‘Pan India Legal Awareness and Outreach Campaign’ of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). “Since May onwards we have recommended more than 106 judges to different high courts and 9 chief justices to various high courts. The government has cleared some and law minister informed that rest of the things will come within one or two days’ time”, said Justice Ramana.

He added, “I thank the government for clearing these vacancies and giving quick access to justice to the people. These appointments will take care of the pendency to some extent”. Justice Ramana emphasized, “I seek cooperation and support from the government to enable access to justice and strengthen the democracy”.

Justice Ramana said people need to feel that law and institution is for everyone and in a democratic country it is the faith and trust of the people that sustains institutions. “We must earn that faith. The quality of democracy rests on the quality of justice. For a healthy democracy, a vibrant judiciary is essential”, he said.

Justice Ramana also stressed the importance of ensuring access to justice to all including the vulnerable sections and added that guarantee of equal justice will be rendered meaningless if the vulnerable sections cannot enforce their rights. “Equality and access to justice complement each other”, he said.

He added that COVID-19 has created many problems for many institutions, including the judiciary –thousands of cases have accumulated in different fora, apart from the large vacancies and non-working of courts, lack of virtual conference facilities in rural areas. “Pandemic has exposed some deep-rooted problems”, he said.