-Press Release from Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms The recent joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts and the Supreme Court of India, concluded with an anguished appeal from the Chief Justice of India for far greater government participation in ensuring urgent judicial reforms, especially in addressing the vast shortage of judges. The Chief Justice of India’s speech also revealed that the efficient functioning of the...

-The Hindu The Chief Justice’s remarks and appeal saw the Prime Minister deliver an unscheduled speech immediately after the former took his seat Breaking down several times in his half-hour speech addressed directly at Prime Minister Narendra Modi present on the dais at the Annual Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Conference on Sunday, Chief Justice of India, Tirath Singh Thakur, launched a scathing attack on government inaction, squarely blaming the Centre for...

-PTI CJI T S Thakur said the ad hoc judges will tackle criminal cases where appeals have not been heard for the past five years In a significant step to tackle the mounting number of cases, a conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts on Sunday adopted a resolution to invoke a constitutional provision to appoint retired judicial officers as ad-hoc judges. Chief Justice of India (CJI) T S Thakur...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A 1987 report of the law commission had drawn a blueprint of the manpower required in the judiciary. At that time, the strength of the judiciary was 7,675 judges, or 10.5 judges per million people. The judge-population ratio (sanctioned strength) has since increased to 17 judges per million but the vacancies have surpassed the 5,000 mark and so have the backlogs. The current sanctioned strength of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: An NGO has questioned a move to have national security adviser Ajit Doval address a conclave of Supreme Court Judges today without a counterbalancing presence of human rights activists to present an alternative view. In a letter to Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms has argued that the three-day judges' retreat in Bhopal that ends tomorrow should also invite rights activists...