India's legal system is lazy: Jaitley

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and eminent lawyer Arun Jaitley believes India’s legal system is “lazy”. At a BJP state legal cell lawyers conference here on Sunday, the senior party leader spoke about the need for legal reforms which hasten the process of an otherwise “lazy” legal system in India.

He asked if there is a need for changing procedural and substantive laws in India. “We certainly need to increase the strength of judges in the country many fold”. Jaitley advocated scaling up of the strength of judges by 20 per cent each year so that the number doubles in five years.

How to appoint the best as judges is a challenge as the best are not getting attracted to judiciary, he expressed. According to him, the practice of the government having a final say on appointment in higher judiciary earlier and judges appointing judges now are not successful systems. In this context, Jaitley suggested formation of a national judicial commission before which matters pertaining to judicial appointment and discipline be placed.