[Chief Justices conference] We will take up our conclusions today with government to attempt consensus: CJI NV Ramana

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana inaugurated the 39th Chief Justices’ Conference on Friday morning while highlighting that the conclusions and resolutions drawn up at the conference will be taken up with the government at the Joint Conference with the Chief Ministers tomorrow in an attempt to arrive at a consensus..The CJI, in his welcome address, highlighted six agenda items for the conference. These included strengthening of the IT infrastructure, human resource requirements in district courts, creating state-of-the-art judicial infrastructure, appointment of judges, and emoluments of judges.“I would like to highlight the issue of vacancies. You may recall that one of my first communications to you was about the filling up of vacancies,” said the CJI laying special emphasis on increasing recommendations of judges particularly keeping in mind social diversity..He expressed his happiness at certain High Courts having responded very encouragingly in this regard. On the other hand, he encouraged Chief Justices from High Courts with large numbers of vacancies to forward names for elevation at the earliest.“Due to our collective efforts, we could fill 126 vacancies in various High Courts, in less than an year. We are expecting 50 more appointments,” the CJI said. He further emphasised that the aim and object of the conference was to discuss and identify problems affecting the administration of justice..The CJI also thanked his brothers on the collegium for their cooperation pointing out that in the past year, nine new judges were added to the Supreme Court and ten new Chief Justices to the High Courts..CJI Ramana also took the opportunity to address the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and appreciated the grit and determination displayed by all the Chief Justices. "Administratively, it was a big challenge. We had to struggle to take care of colleagues, officers and staff of registries, advocates and litigants."He stated that their work helped in making sure that the functioning of constitutional courts was not derailed. He further drew attention to the huge respite Courts offered to people struggling to survive.“I congratulate all of you for contributing to the humanitarian efforts in your own way,” the CJI stated. .The 39th conference of Chief Justices of High Courts is being organised at the behest of the CJI with an aim to address various issues concerning the judiciary.The Chief Justices conference will review the progress of the resolutions taken at the last such meet, back in 2016, and also discuss steps to improve the justice delivery system in the country.It will be attended by the two senior most puisne judges of the Supreme Court, Justices UU Lalit and AM Khanwilkar.Tomorrow, the joint conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices will be held at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan. It will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Both these conference are being held after a gap of 6 years. .Read more about the two events here.