Working days for judges

  Dear Sirs, 

Working days for courts.

JUDGES who enjoyed their posting as High court Judges and advocates who do not tire seeking adjournments are coming forward to ask for 250 working days for court work. Approach is right but the attitude is absolutely wrong. Sin for the week and prayer on Sunday! Wah! Wah! Wow! Wow!

Let advocates think first. How many days are actually wasted in the name of condolence references in High Courts and district Courts? In High courts at 1.40 death references of judges and advocates are held and therefore work is suspended in the honour of the deceased one. In district courts the advocates do such meetings at 11 a.m and do not allow the courts to work. This is just Dadagiri. If you see the list of members of the Bar Associations most of the advocates who have registered their names as advocates are not in reality practitioners but even when they die condolence meeting is held and the wok suspended. A day when there is a condolence reference the faces of advocates shine because they will not have to work. This is the way to pay respect to an advocate who has died.  Hardly 40-50 advocates out of 2500 on role   join the death reference and about 80-90 percent advocates leave the court without attending death reference. Is it not the insult of an advocate who has died? Are advocates ready to give declaration that after their death no death reference should be held and no condolence meeting should also be held and there should be no suspension of work? I have proud that I my self and my wife has given declaration to the High court of M.P. and Bar Associations. Why such declaration should not be given by all advocates and judges including retired judges. Why such declaration has not been given so far? If it is done we can save several days being wasted because of suspension of work. The Bar Association which admitting an advocate to the association should get a declaration signed form him in this respect and same should be got signed when a judge is appointed.

The advocates have a natural tendency to frequently go on strike. Sometimes the strike turns in to a Lathmar strike and few advocates come to court and struck advocates who want to attend court work. I have, in my life never supported strike but when a call for strike is given I avoid going to courts to save my life and to come in conflict with Dadas. In fact there is no reason to proceed on strike by advocates and to avoid work. Even on flimsy reasons advocates proceed on strike. Let advocates and the associations introspect on the subject. It is advocates who have turn the noble profession in to a labour class profession and behave like labour unions.

I have several suggestions few of them were made known to the M.P. High Court. One of the suggestion was to fix some   bail applications on 1st and 4thSaturdays on which though High Courts have non working Saturdays but administration has no holiday. On theses days a judge should be deputed for such work and day's salary and allowances might be given. There would no extra staff engaged to work with the judge. Such a good suggestion did not work Perhaps to give some suggestion to High court is challenging its wisdom. I always believe and with all confidence say that the whole judiciary including Bar and Bench works with negative mentality. I would suggest to read one book Secret by Rhonda Byrne and the other book is power of positive thinking for young (may be for old people also like me who is 72!) by Norman Vincent Peale. Most of the advocates who work just in routine way might not have good law and reference liberties and they may not incline to read such books. However the Bar councils may provide one copy each to the Bar Associations in respective state.

Look to the standard of the advocates. Most of the advocates may not speak English or Hindi their mother tongue. They are too weak in their expression, professional knowledge and not to the mark even in practice. Those who are keen to know this fact may come to courts attend any court and just mark for an hour and may find at least some reality in what I have stated. Adjournment is a routine and work is exception provided there is any constraint. In High Courts it is a job between advocates and judges to argue and decide cases but that is also not done for want of good assistance from advocates which is minimum requirement expected from advocates. At the time of arguments advocates do not fetch relevant text books and copies of relevant citations if any. Very poor state of affair prevails in courts. Such advocates may make false promises and say to clients that they will get their cases decided in their favour but even fail to well argue cases.

And judges…. Few judges are very cleaver, knowledgeable, intelligent, and generous and sharp minded. They come prepared, they do home work and hear patiently and calmly and pick the legal and factual points very quickly. Some judges try to lesson calmly and if they find some problem they do ask to advocates also. Some are certainly average judges and do not get pleasure to appear and argue before them. Some does not want to hear and think that to decide a case is just like mathematical formula. No dear judges please be open minded and understand law and application of it too. Things are not as they seem. The advocates and judges should always be open minded fair and above board to correction.  

Do public know how the judges work in courts and in homes? In the morning judges sit at 10.30 a.m.  till 4. 30 p.m. they have to sit on Board and to hear arguments in cases. It is not that a clerk brings files and they sign them and the work is over! Judges have to give hearing at least in 100-150 cases per day.   During hearing in some cases orders are passed and few cases are reserved for orders. Such cases in which judgments/ orders are reserved have to be studied at home and orders dictated in their houses. Thus they work for about 3-4 hours in their houses and may not enjoy any holiday peacefully. In addition they have to keep on guard with the latest judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts so that they may be up date with latest case law and view taken by other courts on particular point. In general they live like a hermit and work like a horse. 

Can an ordinary man or a bureaucrat is able to turn stones in such manner. Even thereafter the judiciary is attributed as corrupt one and no one bother to say any thing about executive or legislative. This is cowardice act on the part of people who speak in such manner.

Presently   High Court has 210 working days and district judiciary has 220 working days. High Court Judges get summer vacation for one month and district judiciary also gets one month's summer vacation. There is winter vacation of 10 days for High Court and 6 days for district judiciary.  However in district judiciary criminal work is done in routine manner and in High Courts and Supreme Court there are vacation judges who sits on selected days in a week. Vacation does not mean putting locks on courts as is shown to public by few persons. It is to be remembered that since the court are vacation department of the government judges do not get earn leave and hence they avail vacation. The reason is that if judges take earn leave according to the state rules as per their need, the work in courts would hampered.  To maintain streamline in work such system is being adopted.

It is better not to serve half cooked food. Come, discuss, study the life of a judge and them talk about court working hours and working days. I have undergone for about 50 years the life of a judge, advocate and a law tutor.  Since advocates are free lancers they are free to do any thing at any time but such privilege is not to the judges who have not even forum to say any thing which pinch them because of such unhealthy atmosphere created by few people.. They have to bear every thing including nonsense at sometime.  Ideals for others and idleness for oneself is no justice. 

Thanks

Purushottam Vishnu Namjoshi. 

108, Dashahara Maidan, 

Ujjain, M.P. 456010