CJI Lodha seeks the Bar’s assistance to reduce pendency; All Capital punishment cases to be heard by 3-judge Bench

Deliberations before the current Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court appears to be one of the most vibrant and engaging of the recent times. The Bench is presided by Chief Justice RM Lodha and comprises JJ. Jasti Chelameswar, JS Khehar, AK Sikri and the newly elevated Rohinton Fali Nariman.Yesterday, during the hearing of a matter concerning commutation of death penalty to life imprisonment, Justice Lodha sought the assistance of the Bar to help reduce the problem of pendency of cases. The dialogue happened between Justice Lodha and Senior Advocate KK Venugopal in the presence of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar..Justice Lodha remarked that,.“The workload on judiciary is excessive and uncontrolled. We are unable to find ways and means to deal with it. When I made a proposal to work 365 days, reactions and comments started coming in without comprehending the issue. They said, ‘Lawyers are humans’, [but] judges are also humans.You are senior people. You should sit together and discuss the issue and find solutions. There is no problem to which there is no solution”.KK Venugopal immediately turned around and requested Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who was sitting behind, to call a meeting..Subsequently, the Bench also proceeded to voice their concern about the bulkiness of curative petitions filed in the Supreme Court. Justice Lodha also said that all death penalty cases would be heard by a three judge Bench from August 16..Justice Lodha had earlier proposed 365 day working policy which had met with stiff opposition from the Bar.