Judges are hardly snoozing on vacations

Source– The post is based on the article “Judges are hardly snoozing on vacations” published in The Times of India on 15th October 2022.

Syllabus: GS2- Structure and functioning of judiciary

Relevance– Issues related to judicial functioning

News- The article contains arguments against the general belief that the judiciary in India enjoys a large number of vacations.

What are arguments against higher vacation enjoyed by the judiciary?

Comparison with other countries– US Supreme Court (SC) hears arguments for five to six days a month. High Courts in Australia hear arguments for two weeks a month. In comparison, the SC of India conducts hearings for 190 days and High Courts for 210 days in a year. Followinare some other tasks:

The judges devote long hours before and after court time. They consume a lot of their time reading newly listed cases. The time spent only reading cases over the weekend is a minimum 15 hours.

The judges spend a lot of time writing reasoned judgements. In some cases, judges require research on the question of law and its wider social ramifications.

They also have to perform administrative tasks like supervision of lower judiciary and appointment of judges.

Burden on judiciary- The Law Commission in 1987 recommended 107 judges per million. In 2002.SC also gave directions to increase the strength of to 50 judges per million in five years. But as of 2018, India has 18 judges per million.

A lot of judicial positions are vacant against the sanctioned strength.

In the 1950s, average disposal was 75 cases per judge. It increased to 3165 cases per judge.

Along with lack of judicial strength, judicial infrastructure is still in poor condition.

Malimath Committee report– It should not be read selectively. It has also suggested increasing the strength of the judiciary along with a reduction of vacations by 21 days.

For further reading- https://forumias.com/blog/vacation-pe-vacation-no-major-country-has-their-top-court-going-on-long-holidays-neither-should-supreme-court/