minutes of chief justices conference - 2013

7/30/2019 Minutes of Chief Justices Conference - 2013

1/15

R H. .' ._.7'r12j' s. . t b ,. m ...JftfP .....r;. ,

CHIEF JUSTICES' ( ~ F E R E N C E - 2013[APRIL 05-06, 2013]MINUTES

1. Confirmation of Minutes of Resolutions adopted in Chief Justices'Confer'ence held on August14th _15 th , 2009. 'Minutes of the Resolutions adopted in the Chief Justices' Conference heldon August 14 lh _15 th, 2009; are read and confirmed.

2. Progress on, implementation of the Resolutions adopted in the previous,ChiefJustices' Conference held on 14 th - 15th August, 2009.A. MorningfEvening Courts functioning under the recommendation of the13th F' C , . .mance ommlSSlOn. . 'Action Taken Reports furnished by the High Courts and the Department ofJustiCe; Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.were perusedand it was noticed that not much progress'had been achieved.

. 'The issue regarding 0:-corttinuation of MominglEveningCourts wasdeliberated upon and it was decided that MorninglEvening Courts may

, . -continue, subject to the decision to be taken by the High Courts,considering the geographical conditions. The Chief Justices shaH take upthe m a t t ( ~ r , wherever required, for increasing the strength of Judges to man. . . .these Courts.

Implementation OfNational Court ManagemeRtSystems;15. Vision s t a t e ~ e n ' t s of High ~ o u r t s and District Courts: 'akin to Five

year p ~ a : n and annual plans for infrastructure, computerization, citizencentric services, etc.RESOLVEDThat

1


2/15

OL_.. II"f__ .... ..,....I!lI!II.""_;i!'!!. __ ... - ~ __ - __,_-.------'--..,....... - ..- .. - . . . . . - , - - . - . - - ~ - - - '

3. The National Court Management Systems established in the year 2012 to. enhance the quality, responsiveness and timeliness o f . Courts, beimplemented on uniform basis.

The High Courts shall constitute sub-Committees on the lines of NCMS atthe State level, which may provide inputs and suggestions to the NCMS forformulation and effeCtive implementation of national policy/plan.

15. RESOLVEDThatThe High Courts shall prepare vision statements for High Court and DistrictCourts keeping in mind the model prepared by the Madhya Pradesh HighCourt relating to the Five-year and. Annual Plans for --[i]

. [ii]

[iii]

[iv][v][vi][vii]

[viii]

Infrastructure, computerization and citizen centric services;'Human Resources Development (HRD) strategy includingrecruitment and training of Judges, Court staff and Court Managers;... ,-Requirement of Forensic Science Laboratories, includingLaboratories for DNA test centres in each State;Setting measurable perfonnance standards;A system for monitoring and enhancing performance parameters;Measures {o r enhancing user friendliness of the Judicial'system;. .Sp;:cial care be taken for differently a b l e ~ persons while preparingthe construction plan for Court complexes and facilities be providedfor them, e v e n ~ i n toilets; andC9mpetent and adequate officers be a p p ~ i n t e d for the. purpose ofinvtestigation and prosecution at the stages, before and after filing ofthe charge-sheet,

2


3/15

"

. ,

keeping scope for revision in the light -of the final suggestion andrecommendations that may be approved by the National Court ManagementSystem:;.

4. Creation of new posts of Judicial Officers at all levels along withsupport staff and requisite infrastructu,re to narrow d'own 'judgepopulation .ratio; and8. . Filling up of vacanCies at all levels.

RESOJ,.IVED . .ThatIn order to narrow down Judge-population ratio, the ChiefJustices will takerequisite steps for creation of new posts of .Judicial Officers at all levelswith support staff and requisite ~ n f r a s t r u c t u r e i n tenns of the judgements of.the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases of AU India Judges'Association's,case [2002 (4) S.C.C. 247], BrU MOhan Lai Union of India Ors. [2012(6) S.C.C. 502] and letter dated 21 st February, 2013, written by Hon'ble theChief J u s t i ~ e of India to Hon'ble the Prime Minister of India, in order toprovide ~ f f e c t i v e ~ e f f i ~ e n t and efficacious dispensation ofjustice. ,:. ,

. Y-. .

In the, n:tatter. of appointment and training of neW recruits,' the decision' .rendered by the Supreme Court in the All India Judges' Association case bestrictly followed and ' appropriate amendments be effected to the' ,Recruitment Rules, wherever necessary.

The. High Courts may take into account -the' requirement of staff andinfrastructure :witile preparing the proposals. for creating new posts of, .Judicial Officers.

3


4/15

-The ReslJlutions adopted in the Chief Justices' Conference, 2006, to theeffect that "Chief Justices will make recommendations for appointment toHigh Courts at l t ~ a s t six months before the occurrence of vacancy", andResolution adopted in the Chief Justices' Conference, 2009, to the effectthat " T h ( ~ Chief Justices of the High Courts will make recommendations for

. .appointments to High Courts at least six m o n t ~ s before the occurrence ofvacancy in order to avoid delay In filling up the said vacancy." arereiterated.

5. Strengthening p r ~ g r a m m e s , curriculunfand functioning of National'Judicia! Academy/State Judicial Academies. Need of r e ~ e a r c h to.improve quality of judgments at the levels of subordinate courts andHigh Courts. ..RESOLVEDThatThe National Judicial Academy may devise a module in consultation with aManagement Institute of repute to train the faculty of State Judicial. . .

A c a d e m k ~ s , who will impart training to Judicial Officers to enhance theirmanagerial skills.The High Courts may consider sending Judicial Officers in batches to 11Msfor the purpose of imparting training on managerial skills.

6. Strengthening computerization of the Courts by taking over.management and maintenance of hardware and computer peripherals.Promoting ~ - f J i i n g and v i d ~ o conferencing. Provision of Funds fromState Governments-for' computerization.RESOLVEDThat

4


5/15

The Chief Justices shall take step" for implementation of the NationalPolicy prepared by the E-Committee.The Chief Justices, wherever required, shall,take, up the matter with theState Governments regarding signing ofMemorandum ofUnderstanding onthe issue of computerization. Till such time such MoDs are executed, theNational InformaticsCentre [NIC] shall continue to function.

7. " Creating mechanism to' ensure timely proposals for .creation,furnishiolg, maintenance and development of infrastructure of Courtbuildings and residences; having standard approved building plans forfaster clellrance of proposals; mechanism for the use of funds a-eceived;devising Jprocedure to ~ h e c k quality control.while the structures are ,under construction, etc.RESOLVED

. ,

ThatThe Chief Justices will take into consideration the "National Judicial, Infrastructure Plan'\. with such modifications as may be required" yv:hile ''. .taking up the cause with ~ ~ t a t e Governments, till the Standard BuildingPlans recommended by NCMS for Court complexes and residential quarterSthroughou"t the,Country at the Taluk and District levels are approved.

The mechanism created by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in tA.'No.279 of2010 in 'Writ 'Petition (C) No.1022 of 1989 of District and State

, ,

Committeles, be made a permanent feature and, the Chief Justices of HighCourts shall activ$ly utilize the said mechanism for ensuring timely. . .. .., proposals for: ,creation" f u r n i ~ h i n g ~ maintenance ',and development of'infrastructure ofCourt buildings and residences.

.. "" .

5


6/15

Tiir- -Yarne..,"

Funds being provi4ed by the Central Government for i n f r a s t r u c t u t e ~ shouldbe released immediately without waiting for contribution from the StateGovernment, which may come later on.

The High Courts may consider exploring the possibility of using solarenergy in the C o u ~ . complexes, wherever feasible, in the day time, in

. . .addition to; or in lieu of the'provision for diesel generator sets or invertersfor power b a c k ~ u p .

9. Norms fOI" revising the strength of Judges in HigbCourts.The f o l l o w i ~ g Resolutions adopted in the Chief Justices' Conferences in2007 and 2008, are reiterated:

1\

20073(b). "As far as the issue of increase in the judge strength in theHigh Courts is concerned, the existing norms should ber e v i s e ~ because the increase in judge strength, linked with ,disposal of cases, -does not bring about the desired effect.. Theincrease' in the judge-,strength in the High'Court should ,be

d e p l ~ n d e n t only upon' the pendency of cases as well as thetren,d f institution of fresh cases in the High Court. '20087. a) ,The strength of Judges in the High Courts be delinkedfromdisposal, and, fixed on the basis ofpendency of cases.

b) Disposal rate of additional Judges of the High Courtsbe taken into consideration while appointing them against.pennanent posts.".

The following' interim recommendations by NCMS entitled uProposedPolicy on Calculating Requisite Judge-strength for High. Courts" forcalculating the' requirement of number of Judges and submitted to : the

6


7/15

Hon'ble Chief Justice of India for further taking up the matter with the.Central Government are accepted as an interim measure:

"Me:anwhile, in view of the extreme shortage of judges and inorder to remedy the anomaly of the distinction betweenpermanent and additional judges, NCMS has proposedimmediate action for the expansion of High Court judgestrength as follows:[1] :Merge categories of pennanent and additional judges withimmediate effect in all High Courts; . .[2] Expand the total national sanctioned strength of H ~ g hCourt judges by 25% to be allocated to each High Court basedon judge-case ratio as discussed above. The implementation .may be completed within a three year period.[3] In the next five year period, the strength ofHigh Courtjudges should be expanded by 50% from the current strengthto catch up on the past failure to expand.[4] Necessary)nfrastructure and selection measures shouldbe initiated in a pi3J:!ned way consequent to the above.". ..-

The a b o v ( ~ maybe acted ripon til! NCMS Advisory Committee makes finalrecommendations on the policy to be adopted for revising the strength ofthe J u d g e ~ ; in the H i ~ h Courts.

10.' Delegation of powers by State Governments to Principal District .Judges f:or creation of temporary posts ()f staff, whenever average. pendency in I i Court increases.~ . .RESOLVED.ThatThe Chief. Justices shall request the respective State Governments todelegate the p o w ~ r to create temporary posts of staff to the High Courts

7


8/15

~ ! ! ! ! ! ! ~ ~ = : : ~ . ; .. ~ ~ . : ~ . ~ ~ - ' - - - - _ . _ - - -" . ~ t' -. ... ....; " M ' ~ " " r r . m t r .,. , .._ -. Cwheneve:r average pendency in a subordinate Court increases. Theselection for the temporary posts shall be made by the High Court, but the.appointments will be made by the Principal District Judges, unless. otherwise provided by the Rules.

11. Uniformity of nomenclatures of cases.R E S O L ~ v ' E D

ThatIt is agreed, in principle, that there should be uniformity of nomenclature ofcases to be employed by the High Courts and E-Committee be requested towork out and finalize the modalities and where required, provide theequivalent nomenclature to be included ~ l o n g with the uniformnomenclature.

. 1'2. Strengthening and popularising of A.D.R. Systems, Lok Adalat,.MediatHm and ConciOation.B. The PO:its of Law S ~ t e t a r y , Legal Remembrancer and Secretary,Legal S I ~ r v i c e s Authority shall be manned by Principal District Judges

or D i s t f ' ~ c t Judges instead of lAS Officers.RESOLYEDThatA.D.R. mechanism be strengthened for the purpose of optimum u t i l i z a ~ i o nby sensitizing and training J u ~ g e s and advocates. Awareness p r o g r ~ m m e sbe conducted re,guklrly which will go a long ,way in also arresting thebacklog of cases in Courts.State Legal Services Authority shall have the overall control and. supervision of the Mediation. Centres and the Mediation Monitoring

8


9/15

ad --"-,,--,-,-,. F WH1*fBi'if5 i&H"Y'":', ... ':.. . .. _ __ MP .,_. . - -_.. ~

Committ


10/15

.. .,- - , ~ - - ... .._,.. -- ._-_._------_.------_._._._-------- ------

The C h i ( ~ f Justices will take steps to fast track cases relating to offences.against women, children, differently-ahled persons, senior citizens andmarginalized sections of society, as also giving precedence to these cases inthe High Courts on. the lines of the decision taken by Hon'ble the ChiefJustice of India. Cases relating to Motor Accident Claims be also accordedpriority.

. .The C h i ~ : f Justices will take requisite steps in tenns of the letter dated. 5thJanuary, 2 ~ 1 3 ; addressed by Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India, to set upFast-Tra(;k C ~ l i r t s 2 wherever necessary, to deal exclusively with cases

. against women.

14. Strengtbening of Juvenile Justice System.The foUowingResolution adopted in the ChiefJustices' Conference, 2009,is reiterated: .,

"a] The Resolution passed to the following effect in theChiefJustices' Conference, 2006, is reiterated:"1bat High Courts will impress upon the State Governments to setUpt Juvenile Justice Boards, wherever not set-up. The ChiefJustices may nominate a High Court Judge to oversee the.condition' and functioning of the remand/observation homes

e s t a b l i ~ h e d ~ n d e r the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection'ofChildren) Act,. 2000.-. ..b] The C ~ i e f Justices of the High Coutts will expedite.the

matter'with the respective State Governments for setting up ofJuvenile Justice Boards, wherever they have not yet been setup." . '10

t.


11/15

I : ' iT ' --_._--_. __ . .11

In addition, the need to set up Child Welfare Committees in all d i s t r i c ~ i s. .also e m p h a s i ~ e d t!J meet the needs of childr.en in need pf care andprotection in order to give full effect to the provisions of the above Act.

It was fUlther r e s o l v ~ d that Juvenile Justice Committees, as had been set upin the Delhi High Court, under the guidance .of the Chief Justice and seniorjudges and others .concerned with the welfare of juveniles and the workingof the Juvenile Justice ( C a r ~ ~ d Protection of Children) Act, 2000, be setup in a1l1he HighCourts to monitor the implementation of the provisions ofthe Act in their trlJe spirit.

It was noticed that the State Governments had not taken serious steps toestablish and set-up the various Homes, referred to in the Juvenile Justice. ,. . .(Care and Protection ,of Children) Act, 2000, as. amended in 2006 and theJuvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007. It was

. ' .noticed that the conditions in the Remand/Observation Homes and ShelterHomes are not up to t h e ~ t ( m d a r d and a lot of improvement was r e q u i r ~ d " to,.. ~ , . .make th(:se facilities meaningful, as envisaged under the above Act and'Rules. It was also noticed that After-care Homes for adolescents passinginto adulthood and,'in particular girls, have not been taken up seriously bythe c o n c l ~ m e d Authorities. The Chief Justices shat! take up the matter withthe State Governments for improving the conditions of the various H o m e s ~referred to in the ~ b o v e Act and the Rules, arid ,to provide for permanentstaff to run the said establishments, as it was reported by some of the Chief. .Justices t h ~ t many of the employees of the Homes 'had been w o r k i n g o ~ an

a d ~ h o c b a s i s ~ . even for as many as fifteen years. The ChiefJu.stices wererequested to .. take .up. the matter with the State A u t h o r i t i ~ to ensure that

\

11


12/15

services of such persons, who have been working on ad-hoc basis, are. regularised, if necessary, by creation of posts.

Particular notice was taken of the fact that the provisions of the Juv,enileJustice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, had not yet been.-implemented in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India is requested to take up the matter at theJoint Conference of ChiefMinisters and Chief Justices to be held on April7,2013.

16. Problem regarding sudden closure of Courts or breakdown of workdue to the death of a Judge, Bar member or other dignitary.RESOLVEDThatThe High Courts may independently deal with the issue.

". ........,17. Pattern of salaries and emoluments of High Court Judges..'18, . Augmenting of post-retiral benefits of Judges.

Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India is requested to take up the followingmatters with the concerned authorities:

[i] Regarding increase in the salary of the Judges of the High Courts sothat the salaries of the Judges of the High Courts are higher than thatof the Chi'erSecretaries of the State.

[ii] U r i a ~ a i l e d L.T.es. of the Judges of the High Court be carriedforward to the next year, even on r e t i r ~ i n e n t .

12


13/15

. ,

I ._ .o.__ __ . ._._ p

[iii] Free Units of electricity per month be enhanced from 10,000 units to20,000 units and amendments be carried out in the High CourtJudges Rules, 1956, accordingly.

[iv] Daily Allowance be increased from Rs.600/.. to Rs.2,000/- per day.[v] The retirement age of the Judges of the High Courts be enhanced to

sixty-five years,[vi] As regards post-retiral benefits to the retired Judges of the High

Courts, the scheme :;anctioned liy the State of Andhra Pradesh beadopted and. followed in all the States, except where better benefitsare already ~ v a i l a b l e .

[ v i i ] R c ~ t i r e d High Court Judges and their spouses, during their lifetime,will be entitled to the same medical benefits on the same pattern asare available to sitting High Court Judges.

-lviii] . F()r pensionary benefits, ten years' practice as an advocate be addedas a qualifying service, for Judges elevated from the Bar.

Requisite;: amendment be carried out in the High Court Judges Rules,19S6,, ~ ~ . J

with regard to post retiral benefits as has been done in relation to the retiredJudges. of the Supreme Court in terms of the amendment carried out byRule 3B of the Supreme Court Judges Rules, 1959.

. a..

19. Any o t h l ~ r - M a t t e r ' w i t h the permission oftbeChair.A letter written by the former Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Veerappa. . ' . . .MoHy on, 15 th March, 2011, regarding the' disclosure of sensitive. . -.infonnation with.regard to some of the Intelligence Organisations of the .

G o v e m m e n ~ such R&AW9was brought to' the notice -of the Hon'bleChief J u S t i C ~ S 9 " ' w h o were requested to act in tenns t h e r ~ o f . Among the. ,suggestions was. that, -where necess8ry9 proceedings could ,be held ina

13- .


14/15

.. . . , _-- .. .,

...

. .camera and, m. any:. event;. the D8Ines of the officers concerned ~ d the'. '. . . . ..' .. -' ' ..information relating to them should notbe included in their judgements andshould !lot ~ s o ~ ~ published in the website.' The H o n ~ i e ' C h i ~ f J ~ i c e s ...were requested to inform the Members o.ftheSubordinate Judiciaryofsuch.. . ." ..'ditections bywayo(appropriate circulars. .Vote o:lJDanbby Bon'bIe' SbrJ ,R . 'Ghosh, ChIef JolticCa .UttankhandWab Court

- -....._... "

. 'II; .

..

.' .'\ \ . \. The Chief JuStices.ditiSthe Conference iepose c o n f i d ~ c e i n Hon1>ie_ .' the Chif:lfJustice of India and the Hon'ble.Mr. Justices P. 8athasivam and'. ".. .' .G.8. S i n g h ~ i in thematter ofguiding the C o D f e i e n ~ ' and ProPose a Vote of.1:hanks to' all of them. 8cOOndedby theHon'ble 8hri Mobii S. 8 h . Chief.Justicet Bombay High Court. The Vote ofTbanb includes the Members .'" . . ~ f t h e R , ~ g i s t r y ~ d , t h e . s t r l r i n attendance. ' . _ , ~ _ .:' '. _..... . ' ..

.. . . . . . . _ p" -- -' ~ : . . .- - - ~ - ~ -- ' - ~ ..... , o>Vj-". [ALTAMAS ~ I R ]ChiefJustice'oelndia.

~ 4 - '[p. SATHASIVAM]Judge..Supreme Court of India

. -. .' ;.. oS'4- ..[G.S. SINGHVI]Judge,

:S.preme Court of India

. . " 14 . ";:


15/15

New Delhi,.April 06,2013.

..

.. $d'/-.[DARIN GHOSH]ChiefJustice,

UttarakhandHigh Court .. $#- .[MOHIT S. SHAH]ChiefJustice,BombayHigh Court

~ 4[REKHAM. DOSHIT]Chief Justice,.Patna High C o u ~ tJ4::[A.K. MISHRA]ChiefJustice,Calcutta High Court

. 15

..

minutes of chief justices conference - 2013

Documents