CJI Ramana says 45 million pending cases do not indicate whether Judiciary is functioning poorly, invokes Shri Krishna as a mediator

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India NV Ramana has said that the number of pending cases in Indian Courts do not determine whether the Judiciary is functioning properly or otherwise. According to him, the analysis that puts the figure at 45 million cases is also unfair and an exaggeration.

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CJI NV Ramana made the comments at the India-Singapore Mediation Summit 2021. He said, “The often quoted statistic that pendency in Indian Courts has reached 45 million cases, which is perceived as the inability of the Indian judiciary to cope with the caseload is an overstatement and an uncharitable analysis.”

“Pendency cannot be a useful indicator of how well or poorly a system is doing,” he added. The CJI also said that “when things go wrong, the judiciary will stand by them”.

People, however, seemed to disagree with the CJI. They appeared to be rather angry with the sentiments expressed in the comment.

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CJI NV Ramana also said, “People are confident that they will get relief and justice from the judiciary. It gives them the strength to pursue a dispute. They know that when things go wrong, the judiciary will stand by them. The Indian Supreme Court is the guardian of the largest democracy.”

“The Constitution gives wide ranging powers and jurisdiction to do complete justice between the parties to bring to life the motto of the Indian Supreme Court, ‘Yato Dharmastato Jaya’, that is, ‘Where there is dharma, there is victory’,” he added.

According to the CJI, the Mahabharata provides an early example of mediation “where Lord Krishna attempted to mediate the dispute between the Pandavas and Kauravas”. He also blamed “luxurious mediation” for the pending cases “where parties with resources attempt to frustrate the judicial process and delay it by filing numerous proceedings across the judicial system.” He said that the Covid-19 pandemic has added to the Judiciary’s woes as well.