Concern in RS over backlog of cases, appointment of judges

New Delhi, May 3: Expressing concern over large number of cases pending in courts, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav today asked the government why it was not clearing names of 169 candidates for appointment as judges.

"One sixty nine proposals which came from collegium are pending because of want of verification...Why have you stopped the names? How many days IB will take to clear the names? ... IB can find out details in 15 days," he said in Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour.

Yadav said about 3.25 crore cases are pending in different courts of the country. About 40 lakh cases are pending in different High Courts and 62,000 in the Supreme Court. Recalling that Chief Justice of India T S Thakur recently "brokedown" in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "still there is no response from the government".

On April 24, Justice Thakur became emotional, lamenting government's "inaction" in raising the number of judges from 21,000 to 40,000 to handle mounting cases, saying "you cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary".

Yadav shared the concerns expressed by the Chief Justice and pointed out that Indian jails were over crowded.

Demanding a response from the government, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said when the judicial appointment committee bill had come up for discussion, a large number of members had opined that the bill should be converted into National Judicial Commission that will also deal with appointment and transfer of judges.

But that was not accepted by the government, he said. "That appointment thing is under suspension. So how do we clear the backlog? What is the plan, roadmap of the government," he asked.

PTI