Nedumpara’s Letter to CJI on judicial Reforms

2nd September 2021

Hon’ble Shri. N.V.Ramana,
Chief Justice India, New Delhi

May it please your Lordship,

Sub: Judicial reforms to secure equal opportunities for all sections of lawyers in judicial appointments/as law officers of the government and public bodies, bringing an end to discriminative practices like designation and separate dress code which has a seeming imprimatur, audience to discuss these and other vital issues – Reg.

I, as the President of the National Lawyers Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms (NLC), a campaign which is born out of the unjust and unfair practices meted out to the common litigants and lawyers, have been demanding radical reforms in judiciary, many of which offer no difficulty of implementation, provided there be a will to do so, namely, video recording of court proceedings, abolition of the Collegium system, open selection of judges by notification of vacancies and invitation of applications from all, abolition of the law of contempt so far as it restricts free speech, transfer of judges as a solution for malaises such as “uncle judges syndrome”, abolition of the arbitrary and discriminatory system of senior designation, prevention of the abuse of the concept of precedent which has led to a situation where law has to be found from hundreds of judgements rather than the statute, and most importantly the strengthening and restoration of the jurisdiction of the Civil Court as the true constitutional courts which is what constitution has provided for, the current practice an aberration thereof.

2. With the Hon’ble judges usurping to themselves the matters which fall in the exclusive province of the legislature and executive, the classic example is the collegium system where the judges appoint themselves, all by recourse to PILs and “suo motu PILs”, where the judges act as the ‘suitors’/actors and judex, all at once, which is ex facie against the very first principles of natural justice, that nobody can be a judge and suitor at once, with the judges anointing their kith and kin, so too of a few powerful lawyers as senior advocates and thus, has rendered the legal profession an exclusive monopolies of a few dynasties.
3. Though the Modi government, soon after it came into power, with a sense of purpose and urgency enacted the Constitution (Ninety-Ninth Amendment) Act, it did not do anything after the NJAC was aborted.
4. The National Lawyers Campaign, an organization of lawyers, therefore, would like to meet your Hon’ble self to press for the following emergent reforms:

1) bringing an end to the substitution of the Parliament and the executive by the judges using PIL as a pawn, of late even by suo motu PILs
2) abolition of Collegium and open selection of judges
3) abolition of senior designation
4) judicial accountability- a mechanism to redress the injustice arising out of wilful denial of justice, favouritism, malpractices, nay, even corruption.
5) simplification of judicial proceedings- the menace of voluminous judgements, which are nothing but mindless quoting from past judgements.
6) video recording of the court proceedings and access to such records
7) abolition of contempt of court by scandalisation, which absolutely abrogates freedom of speech and expression.
8)Transfer of Judges as a panacea for many a malaise and in particular the ‘Uncle Judges’ Syndrome, etc.

5. We shall be grateful if your Hon’ble self shall be gracious enough to grant us, a delegation of 5-6 members of the NLC in the coming week, hopefully on 6th or 7th September, 2021. I have no doubt that your honourable self will accede to our request and in that unstinted faith, I remain.

With kind regards,

Yours Sincerely,

Mathews J. Nedumpara
Advocate
98205 35428
mathewsjnedumpara@gmail.com