http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne021010Chief_Injustices.asp
From the affidavits given by Mr Prashant Bhushan in contempt case against him, it is prima-facie evident that corrupt judges in SC have been spared only because many MPs do not want to sign on impeachment motions, since they have their own cases pending in SC!
So judiciary is independent of legislature, but legislators are not independent from judiciary!
Finally, Mr Moily has said something (he makes statements often) which has elements of rationality beyond making newer laws to fix problems. This should be considered by lawmakers who are ever ready to create new laws to tackle honour killings, and what else – supposedly under pressure from media and public.
Without the ability to execute on newly created laws, they are in danger of going the same way as of 38 lakh number of pending cheque bouncing cases. You are carrying a bounced cheque in one pocket? No problem… file a criminal case and carry the papers in another pocket!
With crores of cases pending in courts across the country, the Law Ministry has suggested that Law Ministry should make fresh laws only after assessing the extra burden they are likely to impose on the courts and ensuring the provision of money required for the purpose. "Assessment must be made for the purpose of estimating the extra load any new bill or legislation may add to the burden of courts and expenditure required for the purpose," Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has said in a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Nearly three crore cases are pending in courts (lower courts and higher judiciary) across the country, and the backlog is on a steady increase. According to government estimates based on 2009 figures, it takes 15 years on an average to finally decide a court case in India.
Moily's letter, based on the recommendations of the task force on Judicial Impact Assessment, says the government can anticipate the likely cost of implementing a legislation through the courts by a judicial impact assessment.
The task force, which based its findings on the research work by former Law Secretary T K Viswanathan, who is now Advisor in the Law Ministry, had recommended that it should be made mandatory to provide an estimate of the burden likely to be imposed on courts by every bill passed by Parliament or state legislatures.
In a similar letter recently, Moily had stressed the need for immediate setting up of special courts to deal with "surmounting" cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. In that letter, also addressed to the Finance Minister, Moily had said that there are about 38 lakh cheque bouncing cases pending in the trial courts and this need to be speedily addressed by setting up special courts.
