“The holiday habit”
By
J.L. Gupta
MY mind and mattress are good friends. There is a close
kinship between the two. I love to doze during the day. Sleep at night. And get
up with a yawn on a new day. This has been my practice during the long years of
an uneventful existence. And it is really as He had ordained. All work and no
play would make life a dull day. God made holidays to give human beings some rest.
So, men who toil must get a chance to sit and relax.
In India, we follow this divine dictate in more than a full
measure. I remember my school, college and university days. We had lots of
holidays. All the Sundays. Before the examinations, there were holidays for
preparation. After the exams, to wait for the result. Then came the summer
vacation, the autumn break and the Christmas holidays. Besides these, the birthdays,
the martyrdom days and the innumerable festivals. In all, as a people, we have more
holidays than the days for work. And so far as I am personally concerned, this
holiday habit of childhood has persisted. In fact, as a people, we all seem to
enjoy every minute of leisure. Yet, in some quarters it is believed that the
judges have too many holidays. Is it so? No! They are really overburdened.
Anyone familiar with the working of courts would know that
big bundles of files are the constant companions of a judge. Almost every day,
a judge has to read about hundred files. The holidays and weekends are usually
spent in dictating orders and lengthy judgments in complicated cases. He has to
read even the orders dictated by him so as to ensure that there are no
typographic mistakes. Despite sincere efforts, arrears do get accumulated. The vacation is used to clear the backlog; to
Study the new laws and the decisions delivered by different courts in the
world. This helps the development of new concepts, growth and interpretation of
laws.
In a democracy, the judges play a paramount role. They do
not merely decide the disputes or interpret the laws. The Judiciary as an
institution even tests the constitutional validity of laws. They are the
sentinels of the citizens’ Rights and liberty. The Judges keep a check on the arbitrary
exercise of power by the executive. And in India, the Judiciary has performed
despite a heavy load of work and inadequate infrastructure. Still more, the
judges do not work in closed chambers. Our Courts are open-air theatres. A
visit to any Court would show that the judge has done his homework. That should show that it is hard intellectual
work, and the vacation is a necessity and not a luxury.
"Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches." Passing a judgement on anyone else's lifestyle, that too, about the the only part of System which actually "works", is unjustified, as believed in certain quarters. Agreed that there is a huge backlog of pending cases but is it justified to flog an already tired horse? More appointments should be made to tackle the situation rather than to expect increased output, i.e., compromising the quality viz-a-viz quantity. Speedy justice is a dream, in a country where the population numbers increase exponentially and so does the litigation. Technically, a sound mind resides in a sound body. Therefore, the Judiciary also needs the holidays as do others in all professions.
ReplyDeleteThank you Uncleji.
ReplyDeleteI take that your blog is a rebuff to my comment on your previous blog "The collegium or the Commission? No contempt was intended and I apologize if I ruffled some feathers.
Now I understand why a long and rejuvenating break is a must for those burdened with hard intellectual work and task of judging and deciding the fate of individuals and protecting their rights and liberty.
I wonder if those whose case files are buried under piles of other case files waiting for years to be heard by a judge, also understand. Nonetheless, the need of a break for one is a delay in justice for the other and that equates to justice denied. I think CJI Lotha’s proposal has merits and deserves serious consideration by the advocates.
Jai Hind
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSir, my apologies if I could not understand a deeper meaning in your above article. May be it is the smallness of my heart or my disgruntlement towards the system that my belief is that the article is good only for a minority. I salute such judges as mentioned in your article. You were one of these which I know as a matter of fact. Thanks for being in my life as a great judge, a friend and teacher.
ReplyDeleteThe anticipation of a holiday helps to overlook the undesirable ingredients of a professional life. The ingredients which invariably lead to diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks etc.
ReplyDeleteA judge's life is wrought with innumerable pressures. He who works so hard needs rest and respite. So that little holiday in London with wine and good reads is certainly rejuvenating. He then is at his judicial best.
Uncle, I think holidays are a must for a productive and efficient working of any organisation. Balance needs to be stuck between output and the need for leisure. The Japanese are known to be workaholics and going home before 8 is not thinkable. On the other hand, the French live from one vacation to the next and work is only an interlude. In India, there are no clear lines between work life and home life, specially in the private sector. Even in government, our bosses would not think much of calling us over to office on a Saturday or calling on phone on the weekends. On the other hand there were some officials who would take all possible earned and casual leaves and were mostly missing with the burden falling on the rest who were in office. I think the middle path is the best to avoid burnout and keep the creative spirit high.
ReplyDeleteHaving fought my litigation upto Supreme Court of India I have seen those who love their work ; keep others before self, keep working not even on holidays but even with a Dengue fever.
ReplyDeleteCan such a person be ever accused for being responsible for the delays of law.
Breakup from difficult routine is essential.