Every day is a Challenge for Democracy": Former SC Judge J Chelameswar
IIK Staff Reporter; Photo: Anwar Sadath thalassery
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
"Every day is a challenge for Democracy", said Former SC judges J Chelameswar. It requires a conscious efforts to sustain the democracy, he told while talking to Media here in Kuwait.
Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who once kick started a debate on the administration of the Supreme Court and the manner in which the Chief Justice of India operates, was in Kuwait to conduct a talk on "Constitutional Challenges in India" organised by Progressive Professional Forum (PPF) Kuwait. The event will be held on Friday, 267th April 5:00 pm at Mangaf Al Najat Arabic School.
Indian Judiciary system started with 7 judges when the population of India was around 14 crore. Today when the population reaches 130 crore, the number of judges is only around 31. It require an open debate to fasten the justice process in our country and unfortunately nobody is seriously talking about it, Former Supreme Court Judge Chelameswar said.
The concept of "Appeal" came in existence considering the possibility of human error in judgement. There should be always a second chance in such human errors. But do we really need to give 3rd layer and 4th layer of appeal? This need a serious thought, he said. This kind of things also cause big overload on the judiciary and to make things further delay, he said. These matters should need a serious though by people from all walks, justice Chelameswar said.
Crime investigation is a serious matter, but we are not taking it in that meaning, he said. In our system the same police officer who is supposed to investigate a crime scientifically is loaded with all other works including that traffic control and VIP escort. Our investigation is inefficient, corrupted or politically influenced. This affects the judgement. The public also needs to be more responsible. Everybody blames the judiciary for wrong judgement, but how many of these public came forward as witness in a case? Court needs clear evidence for a judgement, he said.
“Judges are also a human beings and nobody is a saint,” he reacted for a question regarding the corruption in judiciary.
However Retd. Justice Chelameswar refused to comment on the recent controversy surrounding the Chief Justice or any other controversial issues. PPF president Mr Santhosh Kumar and General Secretary Sri Anil Kumar were also present during the press meeting.
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