High Courts flooded with bail petitions because district judges hesitant to grant bail due to fear of being targeted: CJI DY Chandrachud

High Courts are flooded with bail petitions because the district judiciary is reluctant to grant bail due to the fear of being targeted, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Saturday..Justice Chandrachud was speaking at an event organised by the Bar Council of India to felicitate him after he took over as the Chief Justice of India."Reason why higher judiciary is getting flooded with bail applications is because of the reluctance of the grassroots to grant bail and why are judges at grassroot hesitant to grant bail. Not because they don't have the ability. They understand it probably better than higher court judges because they know crime is at grassroot level but there is a sense of fear that, 'If I grant bail, will somebody target me tomorrow that I granted bail in a heinous case?" the judge said. The CJI opined that this sense of fear is something no one talks about, but it is necessary to confront the issue to ensure that the lower judiciary is not rendered toothless and dysfunctional."If you commit an error, surely that error is amenable to correction and it is not that we are Supreme Court and we never commit errors. As they always say, 'the Supreme Court is not final because it is right, but it is right because it is final'", the judge added..The judge highlighted that district judiciary is the first point of interface with common citizens. In this regard, he cited the example of an instance like arrest or threat of arrest, when the concerned person applies under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure at a district level court for anticipatory bail.In view of this, CJI emphasized that district judiciary is as important as the High Courts and the Supreme Court."That is why I always say that our district Judiciary is not a subordinate judiciary, but is a judiciary which is equally important such as High Court or Supreme Court. The Supreme Court lays down all these big ticket judgments on important issues, but the district judiciary in that small place defines peace, the happiness, and faith of common citizens," the CJI said. .The judge also pointed out that district judges also have to confront the problem of bad infrastructure.While the Central government has envisaged large number of schemes, it is important for the government to devolve funds to the judicial system to ensure they could improve infrastructure. In the same breath, he stated that the issue is not just about funds but also about how the the funds are employed for the purpose it is intended.Despite the issues, the judge acknowledged how the district judiciary had worked even through the COVID pandemic and the bar kept the "torch burning and flag flying high" while protecting middle aged lawyers..The CJI highlighted the importance of bringing about a sense of dignity, self-worth and self-confidence amongst the district judges."If district judges don't have confidence in themselves and their own position in the hierarchical system, then how can we expect district judge to grant bail in important case. There are provisos (in statutes) which say that there should not be bail such as in heinous offences and we as judges know that sometimes people are roped in some such offences and even information is exaggerated; and this is where district judge's role is to weed them out. Else the higher courts and Supreme Court is getting flooded with such bail petitions," the judge warned..Read what the CJI said about paying junior lawyers here.Read more about CJI's remarks on legal profession here.Read more about CJI's opinion on lawyers strike here. Read what Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said about lawyers strike here.[Follow our live-coverage of the event]