Judiciary not to object to new law for appointment of judge

 Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan made it clear that the judiciary has no problem, if the government wants to bring in a new law governing the appointment of High Court and Supreme Court judges. 



The CJI was addressing a gathering of lawyer on the occasion of Law Day Function in the Supreme Court lawns. 



Justice Balakrishnan, however, made it clear that at present the Supreme Court Collegium is bound by the nine judge Bench judgement in advocate-on-record case. 



Justice Balakrishnan was responding to the suggestion of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President M N Krishnamani, who pleaded for abolition of collegium system to improve the quality of judges. 



The CJI said, at present, nearly 2.72 crore cases were pending in the district courts and for High Courts the number of pending cases as on September 30, 2009 was 40,451,77 cases. The figure for the Supreme Court as on October 31, 2009 was 53,680 cases. 



He said all efforts were being made to fill up the vacancies of judges in the High Courts as well as lower courts. 



There were five vacancies in the Supreme Court at present. 



Union Law Minister Dr M Veerappa Moily, speaking on the occasion, laid emphasis on speedy disposal of pending cases in the court to restore the faith of common man in justice delivery system. Attorney General G E Vahanvati also addressed the gathering. The Law Day Function was attended by Supreme Court and High Court judges both sitting and retired.