New Delhi, Oct 27 Former Supreme Court judge Justice A S Oka on Tuesday said the apex court too is "Chief Justice-centric" and needs a proper roster system to prevent manual intervention in the listing of cases, asserting that the collegium system should not be replaced unless a better alternative is found.
Speaking at an event organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) here on the theme "Accountability of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts", Justice Oka said judicial accountability must be strengthened across all levels without compromising judicial independence.
"I am a firm believer in the collegium system because I feel that unless it is replaced by a better system, we should not replace it," he said, adding that mistakes in its implementation did not make the system itself bad.
Justice Oka stressed that publishing resolutions on the Supreme Court website alone did not ensure transparency in the collegium's functioning.
"By publishing detailed resolutions on the website, that itself doesn't bring transparency in the functioning of the collegium. The transparency has to be in the process which is followed," he said.
He also called for greater accountability on the government's part, pointing out that recommendations made by the collegium often remained pending for months.
Justice Oka said the Supreme Court needed a proper roster system, similar to that followed by the high courts, to ensure that cases were assigned transparently and the possibility of manual intervention was eliminated.
"The Supreme Court of India will become more accountable to the litigants if it introduces a proper system of roster on par with the high court, so that manual intervention even by the Chief Justice of India is ruled out," he said.
The former judge said the existing system allowed the same category of cases to be assigned to multiple benches, leaving litigants uncertain about which bench would hear their matters.
The former top court judge also advocated for automatically listing freshly filed cases to eliminate arbitrariness and ensure litigants did not have to repeatedly approach courts to secure hearing dates.
"To bring about transparency in listing of fresh cases, auto-dating is the only solution," he said, citing the Karnataka High Court's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the practice reportedly ensured timely listing of cases.
Justice Oka further criticised the practice of courts directing time-bound disposal of cases without considering the pendency and workload of the courts concerned. He said such directions created a separate queue for privileged litigants who could approach higher courts.
"By virtue of these orders, we create another queue of privileged litigants," he said, comparing the arrangement to separate queues for ordinary visitors and VIPs at temples.
He also called for a rational policy to determine which cases should receive priority, arguing that bail matters, old criminal cases and disputes involving ordinary citizens should not be overlooked in favour of commercial litigation.
On judicial accountability, Justice Oka said judges must follow binding precedents and their judgments should be open to constructive criticism based on legal reasoning, without attributing motives to them.
He also emphasised the need to strengthen the trial and district judiciary, including through adequate appointments and a rational transfer policy.
Justice Oka said judicial independence depended, in part, on predictable transfers of trial court judges and adequate judicial strength to deal with mounting pendency.
"Every dimension of accountability must be strengthened without compromising on judicial independence," he said.
The event was attended by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, advocate Prashant Bhushan, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Rekha Sharma, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav and AISA president Neha Bora.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal also addressed the gathering at the event and said the country was facing an institutional crisis, with public confidence in the judiciary gradually eroding.
He said administrative decisions, including the allocation of politically sensitive cases to judges, lacked accountability and transparency.
"Independence without accountability is insulation. Accountability without independence is subordination," he said, stressing that administrative decisions must inspire public confidence.
On the collegium system, Sibal said it had developed serious shortcomings despite being introduced to protect judicial independence from executive interference.
"The process remains opaque. Criteria are not published. Reasons for recommendation or rejection are not disclosed in any form that permits public understanding," he said.
