Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, the new Chief Justice of India, is in actual action mode

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 1^st September.  The Supreme Court of India is the final arbiter of any case, law, regulation, or decision’s legality. Every authority, person, and organization is bound by their interpretation of the law. In India, they are the supreme protectors and defenders of the rule of law. The Supreme Court’s legal interpretation shapes India’s social, economic, political, and even international policies. As a result, it is critical that this prestigious institution operates efficiently and meets the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians.

New CJI on duty

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on August 27, 2022. CJI UU Lalit is in full action mode just after taking charge. His overhaul reform process has set the tone for his tenure in just a few days. He appears to have done his homework in order to completely transform the court’s administrative functioning.

According to reports, the Supreme Court heard approximately 600 cases in a single day under the new Chief Justice, UU Lalit. On August 29, 2022, nearly 900 cases were listed. Around 592 of them were heard for the first time.

The hearing was held in response to new Chief Justice UU Lalit’s administrative decision to increase the number of cases listed per bench in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has increased the number of daily cases listed per bench from 30 to 60. Given the number of cases pending in the Supreme Court, the 100% increase in the cause list is significant.

CJI has the discretionary authority to make administrative decisions for the Court as the Master of Roaster. CJI made this historic decision just a few days after being charged in light of his earlier pledge. Justice Lalit stated his intention to overhaul the Court system in his farewell speech to outgoing CJI NV Ramana, which was organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association. He announced three significant reforms. First, he will make the listing system more transparent. Second, a system for freely mentioning urgent matters before respective benches will be considered. Third, he intends to maintain a single Constitution Bench throughout the year.

Urgent Reform in Supreme Court Administrative Functioning

Union Minister of Law Kiren Rijiju informed the Rajya Sabha earlier this month that there were 71,411 cases pending in the Supreme Court of India as of August 22, 2022. There are 56,365 civil cases and 15,076 criminal cases among the total number of pending cases. Furthermore, approximately 10,491 cases have been pending for more than a decade, and approximately 18,134 cases have been pending for 5 to 10 years.

If the Supreme Court of India is unable to fulfil its intended obligations on time, the situation of High Courts, Lower Courts, and Subordinate Courts cannot be imagined. Because the majority of cases are decided by trial courts, the cases heard by the Supreme Court are mostly appeals. The majority of cases heard by the Supreme Court are based on the legality of statutory and/or constitutional provisions. Despite the established legal procedure, the Supreme Court is unable to render a decision on time.

In an age of judicial activism and adventurism, the Supreme Court frequently finds itself involved in ‘urgent’ hearing cases and wastes its time. The majority of politically motivated cases reach the Court through PILs, displacing years-old cases in the backlog.

The decision of the new CJI UU Lalit to increase the number of cases per bench wills double the speed with which matters are resolved. Furthermore, his pledge to increase transparency in case listing will aid in the reduction of judicial activism. A system should be considered for expediting the filing of urgent cases to a dedicated bench in a more transparent and impartial manner. The CJI’s early administrative decisions have raised hopes that he will bring about a radical change in the way the Supreme Court operates.