Ranchi: Chief Justice of India Justice Altamas Kabir on Saturday called upon the judiciary to come up with something 'extra' to deliver justice to the rich and the poor alike.
"As Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said, judiciary is not a 9 am to 5 pm job. There should be something extra to work, and there is a reason to that also," Kabir said here while speaking on "Judicial Excellence in Dispensation of Justice”.
In his speech earlier, Justice Mukhopadhaya said it was not a 9-5 job and asked the judicial officers to do their homework perfectly so that they could be well prepared in dealing with the next day’s work.
Sharing Justice Mukhopadhaya’s viewpoint, the Chief Justice said judges had the privilege which only the Almighty could do, and that was to judge people.
"And you are a human being with power to sentence a person. So the power that is there has to be exercised in a manner which can only lead to benefit of the litigant and the common man for the justice delivery system," Justice Kabir said.
Emphasising on the importance of Chair of the Justice, the Chief Justice stressed upon compassion, patience and keeping up-to-date judicial information to meet the common man’s expectations in the justice delivery system.
Stressing on the importance to be abreast of the law, which is not static as it expands with every decision and decisions are altered, he advised to use modern technology to keep abreast of the law.
"Speedy justice is very desirable. But it should not sacrifice good quality for quantity. Alongside speed, concentration, focus, ability to listen to people is very important. Patience is an important virtue," he added.
Justice Kabir called upon the judicial fraternity to be the moving wheel of the law, adding judicial excellence did not mean only one side of the fence as the other side of the judicial family (Bar) has also helped in delivering justice and some of the best judgements were enabled from members of the Bar.
Pointing out that some lawyers charge astronomical fee and some clients could afford it, Justice Kabir expressed concern over the poor meeting their legal expenses.
"What about persons at the grassroots, who can’t afford? Legal help should be given to them. So that justice is given to the rich and the poor, (making) justice access to all," he added.
Supreme Court judge Justice Aftab Alam said unless one really knew one’s work and knew about various stages of the cases one could not do a decent work.
"Unless it is a part of your waking life, you can’t do a good work, leave aside judicial excellence... Sensitize yourself, a judge not having compassion has no business to sit on the chair," Justice Aftab added.
Saying that all the judges were working hard to deliver justice in a speedy way, Supreme Court judge Justice Gyan Sudha Misra emphasised on striking a balance between quality justice and quantum justice.
She said the justice delivery system is a combination of the efforts of all who were connected with the system.
Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice PC Tatia said there were nearly 80 lakhs of the three crore pending cases in the country which were more than five years old.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, October 13, 2012, 18:22