New Delhi: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday said Judges at the grassroots are reluctant to grant bail due to the sense of fear of being targeted for granting bail in heinous cases.
At a felicitation event organised by the Bar Council of India, CJI Chandrachud said, “Higher judiciary is flooded with bail applications due to reluctance at grassroots to grant bail. Judges at the grassroots are reluctant to grant bail not because they do not understand crime, but there is sense of fear of being targeted for granting bail in heinous cases.”
Union Law minister Kiren Rijiju was also present at the occasion. He raised concerns over several lawyers meeting CJI regarding transfers.
“I heard some lawyers want to meet CJI regarding the transfer case. It can be an individual issue but if it becomes a recurring instance for every decision by the collegium which is supported by Government then ‘Where will it lead to’, whole dimension will change,” Rijiju said.
Over the same, the CJI stated that the protests cause the consumers of justice to suffer. While backing the collegium system of appointing judges, he stated that administrative decisions are taken in view of “national perspective”.
These statements come amidst protests in Telangana and Gujurat over the transfer of judges.
After being promoted to the position of chief justice on November 9, Justice Chandrachud presided over his first collegium meeting on November 16, during which he made the administrative decision to remove three High Court justices, one from each of Madras, Gujarat, and Telangana.
The Madras High Court’s Acting Chief Justice T Raja was suggested for transfer to the Rajasthan High Court by the five-member collegium, while Justices Nikhil S. Kariel and A. Abhishek Reddy were suggested for transfer to the Patna High Court.
On March 31, 2009, Justice Raja was appointed as a Madras High Court Additional Judge. As of September 22, 2022, Justice Raja took the position of Acting Chief Justice.
While Justice A Abhishek Reddy is assigned to the Telangana High Court, Justice Nikhil S. Kariel is presently a judge at the Gujarat High Court.
Since then, lawyers have been outraged and on strike. To discuss the transfer proposal, the CJI has agreed to meet with a delegation from the Gujarat bar.
(With inputs from ANI)
