No compromise on quality of judges: President

India’s President Pranab Mukherjee has emphasised that there shouldn’t be any compromise in the appointment of judges as the quality of judgments depends on the quality of judges.

“Though there has been pressure to fill vacancies for judges, but under no circumstances should there be any compromise in the appointment of judges as the quality of judges has been the quality of judgment,” he said while inaugurating the centenary celebrations of the Patna High Court.

The president underlined that there was a need for more judges, considering the large number of cases pending in the court. There were about 2 million cases pending in various courts of Bihar, with Patna High Court alone having nearly 15 percent of those cases. The high court had a shortage of 12 judges; just 31 available judges against the sanctioned strength of 49. He also called for an early disposal of all long-pending cases with the help of information technology.

Chief Justice of India H. L. Dattu, who were also present at the event, said the judiciary would continue to remain independent. He added, “It is not the right occasion to talk about issues plaguing the fraternity. Judiciary will always be independent. We are moving towards goals enshrined in the Constitution.”

Mr Mukherjee also released a commemorative stamp and unveiled a lithograph, and said that the Patna High Court had a glorious past where two of India’s icons: the first president, Rajendra Prasad, and the first president of the Constituent Assembly, Sachchidanand Sinha, practised.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lauded the state courts for the highest number of convictions in India in the past nine years. “It is up to the high court chief justice to tell us what they need from the government. We have already recommended increasing the number of judges to the Centre. The judiciary played a big role in law and order improvement in Bihar,” he added.

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