'One Way To Judge A Judge': Justice DY Chandrachud On Transparent Courts

Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud has again highlighted the need for public viewership of court proceedings. Justice Chandrachud said judges are to be judged not only by the number of judgments delivered and the case disposal rate, but also by their conduct within the walls of the courtroom.

Unless judicial proceedings are open for public viewership, it would not be possible for the public to understand the nature of work undertaken by the courts, Justice Chandrachud said at a virtual book release event by author Balram K Gupta.

If judicial proceedings are open to the public, Justice Chandrachud said, it will not only give legitimacy to the judicial institution but also further the democratic principle of accountability.

"While data on disposal rate and judgments is easily available in the public domain, the behaviour of a judge in the courtroom is not easily ascertainable... Unless this important indicator of performance evaluation is publicly available, it would be difficult to evaluate the performance of a judge and would pose challenges to judicial accountability," the Supreme Court judge said.

He gave the example of the Dalai Lama, who said lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.

"Though legal journalism is on the rise and reporting of judicial proceedings has gained traction, it has its limitations," Justice Chandrachud said.

This is not the first time Justice Chandrachud has supported opening courtroom proceedings to the public. In October last year, he said live streaming rules had been made so that courts could live telecast its proceedings.

He had also written to the Chief Justices of high courts to request that by this month, cases must be e-filed in district and high courts.