Judiciary facing crisis of credibility: Chief Justice of India

Allahabad: Judiciary as an institution is facing crisis of credibility which is a challenge from within, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur said here on Sunday as he asked judges to be conscientious of their duties.

With concern being raised over huge pendency of cases, Justice Thakur did not mince any words as he said that Bar has "not been very very cooperative" in disposal of cases even if judges are ready to put extra hours.

"At times judges feel that the delay in the disposal of cases is only because the Bar does not, at times, cooperate," he said at the function to inaugurate 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court.

The CJI said he can assure the lawyers that if Bar cooperates, judges will be ready to sit even on Saturdays to finish old matters, especially related to people languishing in jail for years.

Underlining the glorious history of Allahabad High Court, he said it is a matter of great pride for him that Pandit Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Kailash Nath Katju, who have left indelible marks in history, belong to his home state Jammu and Kashmir.

"Difficult times have been seen by this court. Difficult challenges have also been seen by this court but judges have risen to the occasion. They have discharged their duties fearlessly...But we cannot sleep or rejoice over the laurels of the past only.

"We have great challenges in future and we need to get ready to meet those challenges. Judiciary as an institution, as we all know, is always under public gaze and has challenges not only from within but from outside also. Challenges from outside do not disturb us so much. We all face them well but we need to look after and what need to be aware of are challenges from within," he said.

The Chief Justice of India said, "...And when I speak about challenges from within I am referring to the crisis of credibility that we face in the country today. Judges need to be conscientious of in their discharge of duties, punctuality, judicial retribute and effort to do the best is what is the need of the hour".