Dealing with pendency of cases, promoting mediation will be my priorities as CJI: Justice Surya Kant
New Delhi (PTI): CJI-designate Justice Surya Kant on Saturday said dealing with a huge backlog of over 5 crore cases across courts in the country and promoting "game changer" mediation as an alternative mode of dispute resolution will be his two top priorities as head of the judiciary.
On online trolling of judges and judgements, he said these things never perturbed him. Fair criticism is always acceptable, he said.
Justice Kant, who was appointed as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) on October 30 by President Droupadi Murmu, will take the oath of office on November 24 to succeed Justice B R Gavai.
In an informal chat with mediapersons at his official residence here, Justice Kant said, "My first and foremost challenge is arrears of cases. Today's scoreboard shows that the Supreme Court arrears crossed 90,000. I am not going into how it happened, who is responsible... maybe listing (of cases) has gone up."
He said he will also seek reports from high courts about the pendency of cases there and in trial courts across the country.
According to reports, more than 4.6 crore cases are pending across India's courts.
The CJI-designate underlined the importance of mediation as an effective alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
"Now the second issue is mediation. This is one of the easiest ways of dispute (re)solution and it can really be the game changer," he said.
Referring to a recent speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an apex court function in which he stressed the need for mediation, Justice Kant said now the entire country is talking about it.
Recently Indian private MNCs, banks and insurance companies officially approached the top court seeking mediation training for their employees. They wanted to have their own in-house mediators because they did not want to go for long litigation, he added.
On ways of reducing pendency of cases, Justice Kant gave an example of batch matters of Delhi related to land acquisition and said by one judgement of his, around 1,200 cases were disposed of.
He further said that the high courts will be asked about the pending cases to be adjudicated upon by larger constitution benches of the top court.
There are many cases stuck in high courts as judgements are awaited in other related matters of larger legal and constitutional issues in the top court and larger benches have to be set up for that, he added.
On online trolling of judges and court judgements, Justice Kant said that once one reaches the office of an SC judge or becomes the CJI, then these comments on social media should not bother them.
"Frankly speaking, I call social media 'unsocial media' and I do not feel pressured by online comments...," he said, adding that during his tenure as a high court and Supreme Court judge, he was never perturbed by these.
Fair criticism of judges and judgements is always acceptable, he said.
Asked about the rising pollution in Delhi-NCR, Justice Kant said he still goes for a morning walk for around 50 minutes every day.
"Despite any weather conditions or anything, I normally go for my walk and average 50 minutes to one hour I walk...," he said.
Talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and its ill effects, the CJI-designate said a holistic view of technology is needed.
"AI can really provide a great solution to the institution, but we will have to find a solution (to its malady)," he said.
Justice Kant will have a tenure of 15 months before he demits office on February 9, 2027, on attaining the age of 65.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar district of Haryana in a middle-class family, Justice Kant went from being a small-town lawyer to the country's highest judicial office, where he has been part of several verdicts and orders of national importance and constitutional matters. He also holds the distinction of standing 'first class first' in his master's degree in law in 2011 from Kurukshetra University.
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Ayush signs off with silver at Badminton Asia Championships
Ningbo (China) (PTI): India's Ayush Shetty signed off with a silver medal after his giant-killing run ended in a straight-game loss to world No. 2 Shi Yu Qi in the final of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Mangalore struggled to find his rhythm, going down 8-21, 10-21 to the reigning world champion from China, as India's 61-year wait for a men's singles gold at the event continued.
Despite the loss, it was a creditable campaign from the unseeded youngster, who became only the second Indian men's singles player after Dinesh Khanna to reach the final of the continental showpiece.
Khanna remains the only Indian singles champion at the event, having won the title in 1965. Since then, only the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have lifted the trophy, winning it in 2023.
World No. 25 Ayush entered the contest on the back of defeats to Shi at the Malaysia Super 1000 earlier this year and the Indonesia Masters last season. However, he had played with far greater control and attacking clarity this week, toppling world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, world No. 4 Jonatan Christie and world No. 7 Li Shi Feng en route to the final.
However, the Indian, a product of the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru, failed to counter the tactical discipline of Shi, who used his repertoire of strokes and deception to deny Ayush the opportunity to play his natural attacking game.
Shi dictated the geometry of the court from the outset, controlling the net exchanges and forcing Ayush into the forecourt battle early. The variation in the Chinese player’s game blunted the Indian’s attack, as his smashes lacked precision and he succumbed to scoreboard pressure, leading to rushed shot-making.
Shi Yu Qi logged the opening points with two fine net dribbles to race to a 4-0 lead, as Ayush’s smashes lacked precision early on and he trailed 2-6. A long rally ended with the Chinese player going wide, offering the Indian some respite. A deceptive net shot helped Shi move to 7-4, and he extended the lead to 11-6 as Ayush struggled for control, committing a string of unforced errors.
Shi mixed it up effectively, producing a lovely drop shot and repeatedly drawing the Indian to the forecourt with cross returns like a metronome, forcing errors. Two down-the-line smashes gave Shi a massive cushion of game points, and he sealed the opening game when Ayush sprayed a return wide.
The Indian needed a complete reset to stay alive, and he responded with a thunderous straight smash before diving on both flanks to keep the shuttle in play and move to 3-1 in the second game. Shi continued to test Ayush with backhand deceptive net strokes and pushes to the deep, but the Indian managed to retrieve everything and even found his precision in time, with an on-the-line smash confirmed by Hawk-Eye and a well-constructed rally taking him to 7-2.
However, he couldn't hold on to the momentum as the Chinese clawed back to 7-7 after two long shots and a smash into the net from Ayush. A return that kissed the backline from Shi, followed by another error from Ayush at the net and a return into the net, handed the Chinese the advantage once again at the interval, as he led 11-8.
Shi’s ability to place the shuttle into empty spaces with his repertoire of strokes, often punctuated by a fierce smash, made life difficult for the Indian as he stretched the lead to 13-8. Soon, the Chinese was up 15-9 with another powerful smash.
A body return followed by a straight smash took him to 17-9, and another long shot from Ayush further dented his chances. A perfectly angled smash into the forehand corner brought Shi within two points of victory. He then unleashed a cross-court smash to earn 10 match points and sealed the contest with a return that cramped the Indian, targeting his hip.
