President Pranab Mukherjee has praised public interest litigations (PIL) for helping in delivering justice, but urged the judiciary to “observe self discipline” to “maintain the balance with the executive and legislature”.
Delivering the valedictory lecture to mark the conclusion of the Calcutta High Court’s sesquicentennial celebrations here yesterday, Mukherjee said the “independence of the judiciary is sacrosanct. But, the judiciary should observe self discipline and thereby maintain the balance with the executive and legislature.
“The success of the parliamentary form of the government depends on the maintenance of this balance,” he added.
The President further told the judges that people’s expectations from judiciary are very high. He asked them to think of how they can meet these expectations.
The President complemented the Indian Judiciary on having developed public interest litigation and said that the judiciary has innovated in the past for better dispensation of justice.
“The Judiciary must similarly find solutions to challenges like pendency of cases, filling of vacancies in courts, etc,” he said.
Mukherjee further expressed sadness over the fact that only ten women have become so far judges of the Calcutta High Court and asked the judiciary to think about how more women can be encouraged to come to the forefront.
Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Chief Justice of India, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Union Minister for Law and Justice and Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. (ANI)