Hegde for one-on-one meeting of CJI, PM on judges’ appointment

Hyderabad, Aug 25 (PTI) Former Supreme Court JudgeN Santosh Hegde has favoured a one-to-one meeting betweenChief Justice of India T S Thakur and Prime Minister NarendraModi on the issue of filling up of vacancies in higherjudiciary. "I am sure he (the CJI) feels the pinch of shortage ofjudges in superior courts. Rather than making it (expressingdisappointment) on Independence day, it would have beenappropriate if he sat across with the Prime Ministerone-to-one and decided (on the issue of judicialappointments)," he said. Hegde, the former Solicitor General of India andex-Karnataka Lokayukta, was referring to the CJI expressingdisappointment that the Prime Minister did not make anymention about appointment of judges in his Independence Dayaddress. "These are the problems you can solve by sitting acrossthe table. I do understand his (CJI’s) problems that 50 percent of vacancies (in High Courts) are not filled up. Then,you (some people) at the same time blame judicial institutionsto large delays (pendency of cases)," he said. "How does the one who heads the judiciary must feel? I dofeel his sentiments and emotions are genuine because ofshortage of judges but there are ways and means of bringing itout. There has been a line of confrontation recently betweenthe government and judiciary. You sit across the table andtalk about it," Hegde told PTI. "I do support the CJI on this issue since grievances aregenuine, and the nation is suffering because of large delays,"he said. Amid the continuing standoff between the judiciary andthe government, Justice Thakur had on August 15 expressed hisdisappointment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not makeany mention about appointment of judges in his address. The comments came close on the heels of a stern messageby a Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice to theCentre over non-execution of the collegium’s decision totransfer and appoint Chief Justices and judges in High Courts. Justice Thakur had said that today the workload of courtshad increased manifold, making it difficult to deliver speedyjustice. PTI RS GKSRY