CJI Ranjan Gogoi
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has written three letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court. The CJI also sought in the raise of the retirement age of high court judges to 65 years.
"I request you to kindly consider, on top priority, to augment the judge-strength in the SC appropriately so that it can function more efficiently and effectively as it will go a long way to attain the ultimate goal of rendering timely justice to the litigant public," Justice Gogoi wrote.
According to reports, Chief Justice Gogoi has also urged the PM Narendra Modi to make tenure appointments of retired court judges and high court judges under Articles 128 and 224A of the Constitution respectively to clear the backlog of cases pending for years.
"In my view also, if retired HC judges are considered for appointment in tribunals beyond the age of 62 years, they may continue in HCs up to 65 years. The proposal suggested will ensure continued availability of more experienced judges for a longer tenure," CJI wrote.
The CJI in letters to PM Modi said that there are more than 58,000 cases were pending in the Supreme Court and the number was increasing due to new cases every day.
"You would recall that way back in 1988, about three decades ago, the judge strength of the SC was increased from 18 to 26, and then again after two decades in 2009, it was increased to 31, including the CJI, to expedite disposal of cases to keep pace with the rate of institution," CJI wrote.
