New Delhi : After the Union government turned the last Christmas Day into good governance day, the country’s premier constitutional body, the Supreme Court of India, is holding its all-important Chief Justices’ conference on Good Friday.
The annual meeting of the chief justices of all the high courts of the country will be inaugurated by Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu, on the morning of April 3. In the pre-lunch working session, the chief justices of Bombay, Delhi and Tripura high courts will present papers on salaries of judges, their retirement benefits and financial autonomy.
In the post-lunch session, chief justices of Karnataka and Chhattisgarh will present papers on computerization and strengthening of the judicial academy. The two-day meeting will be over the next day, reported The Economic Times.
The public relations officer of the Supreme Court, Rakesh Sharma, refused to comment on why the Supreme Court is holding its prestigious national meeting on the holy day of a minority community. Neither did additional registrar Ajay Aggarwal.
“I have no information and I am not involved,” said Aggarwal, who is also the chief public information officer of the Supreme Court. Dr K Arul, Registrar (administration – judges) told ET that chief justices conferences are always held on holidays. “I will ascertain the facts and let you know,” he said.
The government’s decision to hold “good governance day” functions on Christmas Day had triggered a debate on its treatment of the minorities. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had worked on the Muslim festival of Eid on July 29, addressing scientists of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.
Sharma had in December denied that Dattu had organized a preparatory meeting of high court chief justices on Christmas Day. “It is an informal, unofficial, visit by the chief justices. Only two or three or four chief justices must have come today. This is the first winter vacation after the new CJI took over. The chief justices have come to make a courtesy call on the new CJI,” Sharma had told ET.
But Supreme Court functionaries had informally confirmed that the registrar had sent out a circular to various high courts inviting the chief justices to a staggered meeting for three days, including Christmas Day. According to those who were involved in the process, the judges had then discussed judicial delay, pendency of cases and improvement of facilities to increase the efficiency of the judiciary.
“We didn’t work like other government institutions. Only some staff turned up for the meeting,” said an official of the Supreme Court.