Letters: Judgement call

With reference to the editorial, "Fixing judicial delays" (April 26), tragic is a small word to describe what happened at the joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts.

If Chief Justice of India T S Thakur became emotional during his speech, he had all the reason to do so. The issue of millions of pending cases putting enormous pressure on the judiciary is an extremely serious one. We cannot criticise judges for inaction or delays in delivering judgements when the judiciary is not sufficiently manned.

Read more from our special coverage on "LETTERS"

• Letters: Follow the Delhi example
• Letters: Coinciding polls
• Letters: Right to resign
• Letters: Crying for justice
• Letters: Resist the easy way out

If something has not been done since 1987, when the Law Commission recommended having 40,000 judges, it means past governments are to blame. If Thakur has said that judges from abroad have been impressed with Indian judges' performance under so much stress, it is not an exaggeration. Obviously, these judges would be shocked to find that there are only 17 judges per million in India, while in the USA the figure is almost 10 times for every million.

It is not only the judiciary, but also convicts, victims and their families who suffer when justice is delayed. Hopefully, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has understood the gravity of the situation and will take corrective measures soon.

Bal Govind, Noida

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number