ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Khagesh GautamSubscribe to Khagesh Gautam

Judicial Delays, Mounting Arrears and Lawyers’ Strikes

Report No 266 of the Law Commission of India, published on 17 March 2017, touches upon several aspects and issues regarding the state of the legal profession in India. The problem of lawyers’ strikes and consequent wastage of judicial time is discussed vis-à-vis the report. Lawyers’ strikes in India contribute to the problem of judicial inefficiency and the Law Commission recommends taking strong institutional actions to end these.

Questions of Constitutionality

The National Judicial Appointments Commission system for appointing judges is unconstitutional for four reasons. There is potential for its misuse as appointments to the higher judiciary will be controlled by the executive branch of the government. It suffers from the vice of arbitrariness as there is no way to determine who an "eminent person" is. The veto powers given to any two members also make it susceptible to misuse. Finally, there are concerns about maintaining the independence of the judiciary because the high courts and the Supreme Court examine the validity of actions taken by the executive branch as well as the legislature.

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