New Delhi: Chief Justice SA Bobde said on Saturday that due to the Covid-19 epidemic, a large number of cases will be pending in courts, so much of them will have to focus more on mediation to resolve the cases. The CJI stated the need to emphasize on mental health and mentioned this unpleasant prediction that a widespread trend of suicides could come after the COVID crisis.
He said in a digital program, this Covid epidemic is going to raise a mountain of cases in front of us. I do not see any way. We have to decide in matters. In this digital program, Bobde inaugurated the book Judicial, Judges and Administration of Justice written by R Bhanumathi, former apex court judge.
Lockdown will be removed, then we will be flooded with cases
He said that he believes that this is a time when there is a need to focus on mediation, pre-litigation, and post-litigation mediation to resolve many cases. He said, “I am not saying that every case can be disposed of through arbitration but when the epidemic goes away and the lockdown is lifted then we will be flooded with cases.” In such a situation, if we follow the detailed procedure, we do not know how we will decide them, it is something on which we all have to think. “
On this occasion, after the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the senior-most judge Justice NV Ramana said, “Keeping distance depends on the judges. The judges are restrained from speaking anything in their defense and these days they are considered easy targets for criticism. This topic has become more complex with the expansion of social media and technology. Judges are becoming victims of frivolous discussion and defamatory social media posts. “
Raised mental health issue
Raising the issue of mental health, the Chief Justice said that this needs serious attention as there is an ‘unpleasant prediction’ of the widespread trend of suicide. He said, “I don’t believe in it and hope it doesn’t happen.”
