The
Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has advocated the need
to set up Supreme Court benches in different regions in the country,
including one at Chennai, to bring the judicial system closer to
people.
Concurring
with the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law
and Justice to have separate benches in different regions, the Vice
President said “I think it is high time we had more benches because in a
country as vast as India the litigants have to travel long distances
and spend a huge amount of money and energy”’.
Shri
Naidu made the observations while addressing the gathering at the
launch of a book chronicling his two years in office titled ‘Listening,
Learning and Leading” by Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, in Chennai
today.
It
was not only the legislature and the executive that should become more
responsive to people, the judicial processes must become more
people-friendly, the Vice President stressed.
Emphasising
the urgency to decide election petitions and criminal cases against
sitting MPs and MLAs in a time-bound manner, he said, it has been found
that election petitions and criminal cases were not decided even for the
entire term of the legislators defeating the very purpose of the
election laws.
Calling
for expeditious decisions by the Chairpersons of Legislative bodies in
cases involving disqualification of members defecting to other parties,
Shri Naidu observed that the anti-defection law was not being
implemented in letter and spirit.
The
Vice President said because of the inaction of the Speaker or Chairman
the legislators not only continue in the new party but also become
Ministers in a few cases. “This kind of travesty of justice should not
be tolerated”, he emphasized and said that delay in such cases would
erode public confidence in the judicial and legislative bodies.
Suggesting
special judicial tribunals to decide such cases in a reasonable time of
six months or one year, the Vice President called for revisiting the 10th
Schedule of the Constitution, containing anti-defection provisions, to
ensure a time bound disposal of such cases and make it more effective by
plugging loopholes.
Shri
Naidu also referred to the figures mentioned by the Chief Justice of
India recently about heavy pendency of cases in various courts and said
“apparently, there are nearly 60,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court
and nearly 44 lakh cases in the High Courts. We need to take action to
reduce this heavy pendency. Justice delayed, as is often said, is
justice denied”, he added.
The
Vice President said the law enforcement machinery and the justice
dispensing structures must be accessible, credible, equitable and
transparently even-handed.
Expressing
his happiness over the decision of the government to increase the
number of judges in the Supreme Court by 10 per cent, the Vice President
said that a number of civil and criminal cases have been pending for
over 25 years and wanted the Supreme Court to have two divisions– one
dealing with Constitutional matters and another with appeals.
He
said the proposal for two divisions merits serious consideration
“because it would enable the Supreme Court to devote more time to
Constitutional issues and make it more accessible to common people”.
Shri
Naidu said the procedure for appointment of judges might also have to
be revisited and a credible, transparent process instituted which will
steer clear of avoidable controversies.
Urging
Parliamentarians to refrain from dysfunctional behaviour, the Vice
President urged political parties to adopt a code of conduct for
legislators and other elected representatives.
Stating
that media – the fourth estate, also plays an important role in shaping
public discourse, enhancing accountability of the government and
providing news and views on various events around the world, he said “a
free and vibrant media keeps democracy alive and can enrich the quality
of life of people through information, education, entertainment and
insightful analysis”.
Cautioning
against unauthentic media posts, he said there was a need for need
media literacy to identify fake news, biased analysis and material
intended to promote hatred, division and discontent.
Shri
Naidu said “the media should be a dispassionate watchdog and an honest
messenger. Media should be the catalyst of positive change and be the
voice of the voiceless. It should question and seek answers and present
even ugly truths in such a manner that social transformation occurs in
positive direction. It should also help build public awareness and
motivate people to join societal movements for cleanliness, health,
hygiene and education.
Referring
to the untapped demographic dividend and the fundamentally sound Indian
economy that was growing faster than the economies of most other
countries, he said the circumstances were excellent to transform our
country and called for focussing on five Ds – ‘Discuss, Debate, Decide,
Decentralize and Deliver. “This can transform the quality of our
polity”, he added.
The
Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Banwarilal Purohit, the Union Minister for
Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, the Union Minister for Environment,
Forest & Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting, Shri
Prakash Javadekar, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri Edappadi K.
Palaniswami, the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri O.
Panneerselvam, eminent Agricultural Scientist, Prof. M.S. Swaminathan,
former ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, veteran journalist and
Editor of Tughlak, Shri S. Gurumurthy, the Chairman, Apollo Hospitals
Group, Dr. Pratap C. Reddy, Popular Actor, Shri Rajnikanth, the
President, Education Promotion Society of India and Founder Chairman of
VIT, Dr. G. Viswanathan, All India Badminton Coach, Shri Pullela
Gopichand and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Following is the text of Vice President’s address:
“I
am extremely happy to be amidst all of you today, especially with Shri
Amti Shah ji, the Hon’ble Home Minister who has so graciously released
this chronicle of my engagements over the last two years as the Vice
President of India. I am thankful to Shri Prakash Javdekar ji and his
team in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for bringing out
such an attractive compilation. I am happy that Shri Banwarilal Purohit
ji, Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Edappadi K. Palaniswami,
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Shri O. Panneerselvam, Hon’ble
Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu are with us for this event today.
I
feel it a privilege to have amidst us on the dais a galaxy of
luminaries, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan ji who ushered in green revolution in
our country, Dr. Kasturirangan ji, former Director of ISRO and the
Chairman of the expert committee that has drafted the New National
Policy on Education, Thiru Gurumurthy ji, editor Tughlak is a leading
journalist and one of the most reputed financial experts, Dr. Prathap C.
Reddy garu, the pioneering founder of India’s first corporate chain of
hospitals, Dr. G. Vishwanathan ji, Founder and Chancellor VIT and Shri
Pullela Gopichand garu, Chief National Coach for the Indian badminton
team.
I have learnt a lot from each one of these doyens and continue to learn new things whenever I meet and interact with them.
In
fact, the chronicle of events that has just been released has been
aptly titled because it reflects my quest to gather new information and
gain new insights through interaction with a vast cross section of our
population. That’s the quest which has enriched me and been the driving
force behind my over 330 engagements across the country in the last two
years. That’s the quest which has helped me grow over the years as I
kept meeting thousands of party functionaries and people from different
walks of life in the nook and corners of different States in our
country.
As
I reflect on what I have seen, heard and experienced as well as analyse
the present developments in the country, I am filled with a sense of
buoyant but cautious optimism. I would like to share these thoughts
with the people of our country. There are so many exciting achievements,
and so many ambitious programmes that are putting our country on a new
and distinctly faster trajectory. The Prime Minister Modi ji’s mantra of
“Reform Perform and Transform” has given a new impetus to
transformational development of our country. These far reaching and path
breaking reforms must be further accelerated.
The
country’s space programme and the rapid advances made by scientists in
the research labs across the country as well as innovations in
Information Technology are truly remarkable. I have personally seen the
cutting edge research being done by our scientists and I am deeply
impressed by their sense of dedication and professional excellence.
I
am quite confident that the youth which constitutes over two thirds of
our population will shape a new India provided we create the conditions
for their success and growth. This is a huge demographic dividend that
we can hardly ignore.
Dear Sisters and brothers,
As we step into the 73rd
year of independent India in a few days from now, my thoughts go to the
quality of our polity. I think it is a moment for us to ponder on the
current situation of our three state organs – the legislature, the
executive and the judiciary – and see how we can further strengthen
these three pillars.
The
State legislatures and the Parliament have an important policy making
role. They are supposed to make legislations for the betterment of the
country and the people, take up and deliberate on issues of public
importance and ensure the accountability of the government of the day.
While some legislative bodies are functioning well, in many of them
there is certainly considerable room for improvement.
There
is a general perception that the quality of debates has been declining.
Disruptions have become a more common occurrence then before. Acrimony
and emotional outbursts have tended to dominate the proceedings.
I
have been urging the Parliamentarians to refrain from such
dysfunctional behaviour. I have constantly reminded them of their
onerous responsibility and unique opportunity to shape public discourse.
I hope that all political parties will adopt a code of conduct for
their legislators and contribute to policy making through informed
decisions.
As
I have repeatedly emphasized in my public speeches, I would like
legislators across the country to “discuss, debate and decide” not
‘disrupt’.
We
need legislators who are well informed and well intentioned and capable
of articulating a well presented viewpoint, not those who are eager to
rush to the well of the House.
We
need legislators who realize the dreams of our Constitution makers
through enlightened debates and forward looking legislations.
Dear sisters and brothers,
Making laws is only a part of the story. Implementing them is a more crucial aspect of governance.
Designing
programmes, funding them, monitoring their implementation and
evaluating their outcomes is the crux of good governance.
There
should be no gap between policy intent and policy implementation. The
intended benefits of a programme must reach the people in time. The
quality of service delivery is an area that needs more attention than
what is being done today.
How effectively are we able to deliver public services like water, sanitation, power, housing, transport, education, health?
How effectively are we able to provide support to farmers, youth, traders, entrepreneurs and industrialists?
How
efficiently are we building durable, world class infrastructure like
road, rail and air connectivity and an eco-system for growth and
development?
How swiftly and sustainably are we creating conditions for inclusive growth and empowerment of people?
We
have to constantly reflect on these questions and find answers through
honest evaluation. We have to act promptly and make our delivery
systems work better. While a lot of improvement has been made over the
years, service delivery remains very often the big missing link in
certain areas.
We
must ensure that the fruits of democratic governance reach everyone,
especially the ones who are at the farthest end of the development
spectrum.
Results based management should become the norm.
I am glad that the reforms initiated by Prime Minister Modiji are a major step in this direction.
Dear sisters and brothers,
This
focus on people and their active participation in national development
is the essential foundation of a well functioning democracy like ours.
Programmes tend to succeed when people get enthused and participate in
the implementation of programmes. I strongly believe that
decentralization of powers and responsibility to local bodies needs to
be more efficiently implemented as per the Constitutional provisions.
Funds, functions and functionaries must be transferred to these
institutions. This will bring governance closer to people and enhance
its credibility and effectiveness.
Sisters and brothers,
It
is not only the legislature and the executive that should become more
responsive to people. The judicial processes must become more
people-friendly. The law enforcement machinery and the justice
dispensing structures must be accessible, credible, equitable and
transparently even-handed. There is a lot of ground we have to cover in
this regard.
The
Chief Justice of India has recently talked about heavy pendency of
cases in various courts. Apparently, there are nearly 60,000 cases
pending in the Supreme Court and nearly 44 lakh cases in the High
Courts. We need to take action to reduce this heavy pendency. Justice
delayed, as is often said, is justice denied.
Based
on my personal interaction with retired judges and senior advocates, I
would like to suggest certain measures to streamline and make justice
delivery more effective.
I
have been emphasising the urgency to decide certain category of cases
that are time bound like the election petitions and criminal cases
against sitting MPs and MLAs.
It
has been found that election petitions, criminal cases and
disqualification proceedings under anti-defection law are not decided
even for the entire term of the legislators defeating the very purpose
of these laws.
In
cases involving disqualification of member of legislature who change
parties, the chairperson of the legislative bodies must expeditiously
take a decision. Here also, the anti-defection law is not implemented in
letter and spirit and because of the inaction of the Speaker or
Chairman, the legislators continue in the new party and, in a few cases,
even become ministers in the government. This kind of travesty of
justice should not be tolerated.
Any delays in these cases erode public confidence in the judicial and legislative bodies.
I
would suggest that we should have special judicial tribunals which will
decide the cases within a reasonable time of, let us say six months or
at the most one year. I would also suggest we revisit the 10th
Schedule of our Constitution, containing anti-defection provisions, to
ensure a time bound disposal of such cases and make it more effective by
plugging loopholes.
We
need to bring the judicial system closer to people. Expanding the
Supreme Court bench and having separate benches in different regions and
at least one in Chennai on trial basis has been suggested by the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice. I tend to agree
with this recommendation. I think it is high time we had more benches
because in a country as vast as India the litigants have to travel long
distances and spend a huge amount of money and energy.
It
is heartening that the government has enhanced the number of judges in
the Supreme Court by 10% but I am afraid it may be still inadequate.
A
number of civil and criminal cases have been pending for over 25
years. This makes me think that we need to not only expand the Supreme
Court but also divide the work into Constitutional Division and a number
of legal divisions or Courts of Appeal. As the Law Commission has
suggested, I would like the Supreme Court to have two divisions’ one
dealing with Constitutional matters and another with appeals. This
suggestion merits serious consideration and decision by the Supreme
Court as well as the government because it would enable the Supreme
Court to devote more time to Constitutional issues and make it more
accessible to common people.
The
suggestions of the Chief Justice of India to raise the retirement age
of high court judges and make tenure appointments to clear the backlog
seem to be pragmatic solutions in the current context.
The
procedure for appointment of judges may also have to be revisited and a
credible, transparent process instituted which will steer clear of
avoidable controversies. While the Judiciary didn’t quite approve of the
National Judicial Commission passed by the parliament and the system of
collegium has not been without certain drawbacks, the appointment of
Judges needs to be done through a process which inspires confidence and
credibility. The procedures must be simplified and the proceedings
should be, by and large, conducted in the language understood by common
people in a particular state.
What is required is “de-mystification” of processes.
Legal literacy and legal aid will bridge the current gap between the judicial system and people.
It
is generally noticed that an efficient, transparent, accessible and
affordable judicial system is a key touchstone of good governance which
can improve ease of business as well as ease of living.
Dear sisters and brothers,
In
addition to the three pillars of our polity, we also have the fourth
estate, the media, which plays an important role in shaping public
discourse, enhancing accountability of the government and providing news
and views on various events around the world. A free and vibrant media
keeps democracy alive and can enrich the quality of life of people
through information, education, entertainment and insightful analysis.
The
technological advances in recent years have brought in unprecedented
changes in the media landscape. Social media along with the traditional
press and the TV are having a profound influence on our lives and
lifestyles, on our work and relationships.
Like everything else in life, this transformation has the good, bad and the ugly side to it.
What
we need to guard against today is to take all media posts as authentic.
We need media literacy and an ability to identify the fake news, biased
analysis and material that is intended to promote hatred, division and
discontent.
The
media should be a dispassionate watchdog, an honest messenger, a
friendly adviser and a wholesome entertainer. This is the ideal we must
aim to achieve. Media should also like other organs of governance be
more accountable for the authenticity and objectivity of the content.
Media
should be the catalyst of positive change and be the voice of the
voiceless. It should combine information with confirmation that is
considered to be more powerful than ammunition. It should question and
seek answers and present even ugly truths in such a manner that social
transformation occurs in positive direction. It should help build public
awareness and motivate people to join societal movements for
cleanliness, health, hygiene and education.
Dear sisters and brothers,
I
have dwelt at length on the foundations of our governance system. We
are proud inheritors of an ancient civilization that had an excellent
governance system based on sound theoretical and philosophic basis.
We
have rebuilt this edifice on new, solid foundation in 1947. We have
struggled hard through 72 years to shape India as a vibrant democracy.
We have done reasonably well.
But
this is not a moment to be complacent, to be smug and rest on past or
present laurels. We must constantly strive to be better than the best.
As the ancient sages had exhorted us, charaiveti, charaiveti. We must move on and move forward.
We should focus on the five ‘D’s I have already mentioned:
‘Discuss, Debate, Decide, Decentralize and Deliver’. This can transform the quality of our polity.
And
we have an excellent set of circumstances to transform our country. We
are a young, aspirational India. An untapped demographic dividend, a
fundamentally sound economy that is growing faster than most of the
other countries, a pool of front ranking individuals and a strong
leadership at all levels.
If we can combine our collective competence for common good, we can easily achieve the mission we have set for ourselves.
We
can not only be a 5 trillion dollar economy but also a more vibrant
democracy based on our civilizational values of tolerance, inclusion and
harmony.
We should tap into our enormous resources both human and material.
We should incorporate values and ethics into the education system.
We
should preserve the best aspects of our rich cultural heritage and
propagate it. India has a rich linguistic diversity and literary
heritage. I have been repeatedly suggesting that children should have an
opportunity to study in their mother tongue at least up to the primary
stage. This will enable Indian languages to be preserved and children
will strengthen their foundational and cognitive abilities.
As
we shape our future, we must certainly focus on making agriculture more
remunerative and sustainable. The central and state governments must
work together to provide inputs, implements, insurance, credit,
warehousing and marketing in an integrated manner. Diversification of
crops, supplementation of farmers’ incomes through activities like
dairy, poultry, agro forestry and aquaculture as well as value addition
through food processing will address the twin issues of ensuring home
grown food security and hidden hunger.
Dear sisters and brothers,
We
should keep our feet and ears to the ground, listen to different voices
and various ideas and learn from the best practices from across the
globe.
I
am happy that I have had the privilege of listening to and learning
from a number of eminent persons as well as youth and farmers,
scientists and artists, leaders from around the world.
This book, launched today, captures some glimpses of this journey.
I
am happy to be a co-seafarer in this voyage with all my fellow citizens
as we sail through known and unknown seas and constantly unveil a new,
resurgent, resilient, inclusive and harmonious India.
Let us all work towards a bright future that beckons us.
Jai Hind!“
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