Newly-appointed Chief Justice of India (CJI) T S Thakur's (pictured) term is barely 13 months. In 68 years we have had 43 chief justices, thus the average tenure works out to one year and seven months. Remove the six CJIs whose individual tenures crossed 1,000 days (three years) and the average is even measlier. Some CJIs had tenures of less than 60 days each.
In 68 years the US has had only five chief justices of its apex court and the incumbent has completed 10 years. Is the "I want my picture on the wall" syndrome playing out in India? If the president, vice-president, prime minister, chief election commissioner, Reserve Bank of India governor, chief vigilance commissioner and chief information commissioner can all have fixed tenures, why not the chief justice of India, particularly when the Supreme Court has dictated minimum tenures for several posts?
Let the senior-most judge, who has three years of service left, be appointed the next CJI. Yes, some will be superseded, but when that happens in other services, why not also in the judiciary? If the CJIs want, they can resign to give younger judges an opportunity to rise. The same system could apply to high courts.
I am in favour of increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges. Why is the Supreme Court based only in Delhi? Let it have Benches in the four major metros and an appellate Bench in Delhi. That will make dispensation of justice quicker and remove the monopoly of the Delhi Bar.
T R Ramaswami, Mumbai
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