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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Not possible to set up National Court of Appeals: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi
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Not possible to set up National Court of Appeals: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

A public interest litigation is seeking SC intervention in setting up a National Court of Appeals with regional seats in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata

Photo: Rajkumar/Hindustan TimesPremium
Photo: Rajkumar/Hindustan Times

New Delhi: The government’s top law officer Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that setting up a National Court of Appeals is neither possible nor desirable.

Rohatgi’s statement came after a bench comprising chief justice T.S. Thakur and justice U.U. Lalit asked the government if it is permissible under the constitution to set up a National Court of Appeals.

“If a case is pending for more than 10 years in court, then that is denying a person his fundamental right of access to justice. We could consider a court of appeals but the question is will this dilute the independence of the judiciary?" the chief justice asked.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation by advocate V. Vasanthakumar seeking the apex court’s intervention in setting up a National Court of Appeals with regional seats in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. The petitioner had argued that the move will help in clearing pending cases in the apex court. As of March 2015, 61,300 cases are pending before the apex court. The idea behind setting up a court of appeal is that the apex court should entertain cases involving questions of constitutional law and public law and not appeals against orders of lower courts in civil, criminal, labour and revenue matters.

On 3 March, the court had appointed senior advocates K.K. Venugopal and Salman Khurshid to assist the court as amicus curiae (Latin for friend of the court).

Venugopal told the court on Tuesday that reducing the pendency is of utmost importance. “Of all appeals before this court, the least percentage comes from the farthest states like Kerala and North Eastern states."

“After six years of debate, Ireland amended its constitution to set up a court of appeals. State after state is doing this and there is no reason why we cannot," he added.

Khurshid offered an alternative view and suggested that the top court could embrace technology to improve access to justice. “There can be dedicated court rooms for video conferencing with lawyers and litigants in faraway states. That way, there will be no need to have regional benches of the supreme court," he said.

The court asked the amicus curiae and the attorney general to submit their proposals for and against setting up a court of appeal. Justice Thakur said that a three-judge bench would hear the case in the next hearing. The bench could then frame questions for a larger constitution bench to consider and rule on.

However, the government stood firm, saying that Article 136 of the Constitution which gives the Supreme Court powers to entertain appeals cannot be diluted. “This court has consistently refused even setting up of regional benches of the court. It will dilute the integrity of the court," Rohatgi said.

Ultimately, new courts can be created by the Parliament by introducing amendments to the constitution. Several provisions of the constitution relating to independence of judiciary, hierarchy of courts, powers of the high courts and the Supreme Court will have to be amended to change judicial structure in India. Article 138 of the Constitution also states that any enlargement of the apex court’s jurisdiction can only be done by the Parliament.

In 1997, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the L. Chandrakumar versus Union of India case had said that Article 136 cannot be amended by the Parliament as it is a basic feature of the constitution. In 1987, the then chief justice P.N. Bhagwati, in the case of Bihar Legal Support Society versus chief justice of India case, however, had supported setting up a National Court of Appeals.

The court will hear the case next on 4 April.

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Published: 15 Mar 2016, 11:12 PM IST
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