Justice GR Swaminathan of Madras High Court releases performance report on his 7 years as judge

Justice GR Swaminathan of Madras High Court has released a self-assessment based ‘performance report’, summing up his work as a judge over the last seven years on the Bench..Justice Swaminathan, who completed seven years as a judge on June 27, said he believed that all those who hold public offices, including judges, should be judged on the basis of their performance.He claimed in his performance report that he has disposed of 64,798 cases so far..As per the performance report, 820 of these cases were "cleared" by Justice Swaminathan at the principal seat of the Madras High Court in Chennai. The remaining 63,910 cases were heard and disposed of by him at the Madurai Bench.Justice Swaminathan has largely functioned out of the Madurai Bench of the High Court.The judge also said that if he were to add miscellaneous cases that he had disposed of, the number would go up to 1,03,685..However, he said that one should not add the number of miscellaneous disposals while checking one's case disposal record."If like Justice Chandru (Justice K Chandru, retired judge of the Madras High Court, who as per Justice Swaminathan's report disposed of 95,607 cases during his tenure) I include my miscellaneous disposals, the grand total will come to 1,03,685 cases. I believe that the disposal of main cases alone should matter. One should not flaunt the figure of miscellaneous disposals. They give a misleading picture to the general public," Justice Swaminathan said..The judge further said that he wishes to pass orders in and dispose of as many cases as possible over the next six years that he has left on the Bench..He also urged the Bar to help him achieve such goal by giving adequate assistance and ensuring there are no mistakes in pleadings and arguments."If a lawyer loses the trust of the Judge, his career may be in peril. Judges also talk among themselves. If a lawyer cheats me in the court, I am bound to lament or complain to some Judge who is close to me. He will in turn convey it to his friends during casual conversations. Forget this career interest. It is your responsibility to ensure that I don't give a wrong judgment. You must take care that I do not err on facts or law. These days court proceedings are live-streamed. Due to digital reporting, every order is on record. If I goof up, I become a laughing stock. I am sure you don't want me to face ridicule. I therefore request you to bear this in mind and conduct yourselves accordingly. Almost all of you will not do it deliberately but I want you to take extreme care," Justice Swaminathan said..The judge also lamented that sometimes, the media and users of social media inflate the oral comments he makes during a hearing and put words in his mouth. Since he is a judge and cannot "enter the arena" and defend his comments on social media, he encouraged lawyers to make the picture clear and went on to say that lawyers can pass resolutions in such cases."Judges cannot retaliate. They cannot jump into the public arena and hit back. They have to stomach several things. Media cannot put words into my mouth. Maybe the bar members can set the record straight in such cases. They can write letters to the editor or the Youtuber or the blogger concerned. Very occasionally, they can pass resolutions," Justice Swaminathan said.The judge also resolved to be a calmer person and not lose his temper while in Court..Justice Swaminathan had released a similar performance report in 2019 as well..[View Report]