President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday expressed concern over the unacceptably low

representation of women, OBCs, SC/STs in the higher judiciary and called for steps
to remedy the situation.
(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
"There is unacceptably low representation of traditionally weaker sections such as
OBCs, SCs and STs especially in the higher judiciary," he said, also noting that
only one in four judges is a woman.
Asking the judiciary to walk in pace with other public institutions in being truly
representatives of society's diversity, the President said: "Like our other public
institutions, our judiciary too has to be judicious in being representative of the
diversity of our country, and the depth and breadth of our society.
"Of the 17,000 judges in our subordinate courts, High Courts and the Supreme Court,
only about 4,700 -- roughly one in four -- are women," he said. We need to take
long-term measures to remedy this situation."
Telling the higher judiciary that it was its "sacred duty" to "groom" District and
Sessions judges and raise their skill so that more and more of them can be elevated
to High Courts, Kovind said: "This will also enhance trust in our lower courts and
their judgments and serve to declog our High Courts." However, he also made it
clear that the long-term solutions would be "without in any manner compromising on
quality" of the judges and the judicial system.
The President was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day meet organised
jointly by the Law Commission and Niti Aayog on the National Law Day.
Pointing out that "India has acquired a reputation of an expensive legal system"
coupled with delays and constraints of the "affordability of fees", he said, "While
we take pride in our courts and their independence, it is a paradox that poor often
shy away from a legal battle, worried about duration and cost ... while the "well-
off sometimes use the judicial process and its intricacies to delay resolution to
issues they simply do not want to be resolved".
This "paradox", has to be addressed including the issue of adjournments "used for
tactical delay of proceedings by one or the other party".
Kovind also called for simplifying the laws and repealing outdated laws thereby
decongest the statute book and promote ease of governance.
The President said the judiciary, the executive and the legislature were "obligated
to be models of good conduct" and cautioned that "they also need to be careful not
to cross into each other's finely-defined spaces. Or give the opportunity to read
transgressions even when none is intended.
This overstepping of the each organ's defined space can occur in many
circumstances, including when "extraneous comments and obiter dicta come to
dominate public debates, crowding out a substantive understanding and deliberation
of a well thought-out judgement, he said.