Chief Justice Gavai Bats for Central Agency To Screen Govt Appeals, Flags Pendency Crisis

Moneylife Digital Team 22 September 2025

Investor Interest

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai on Saturday called for the creation of a centralised mechanism to filter government appeals before they reach higher courts, emphasising that such a step would help ease the massive pendency of cases across the judicial system.

Speaking at the 10th All India Conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in the capital, chief justice Gavai underlined that government departments often pursue appeals against tribunal or high court decisions without applying proper scrutiny. This practice, he warned, is a major contributor to the mounting backlog.

“Some central agency should decide whether a matter really deserves to be appealed or not. That will greatly reduce pendency of matters before courts,” the chief justice says.

Justice Gavai noted that tribunals like the CAT, despite commendable disposal rates, continue to face significant pendency. He attributed part of this problem to the multiplicity of appeals, pointing out that even where both the tribunal and a high court had delivered concurrent findings, government departments often filed further challenges in the Supreme Court.

Union minister of state for law & justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, who also addressed the conference, echoed the concern. He remarked that officials sometimes insist on filing appeals even when the order under challenge is 'very good'. He urged a rethink of this tendency of automatic appeals that only prolongs litigation.

Minister of state in the prime minister's office (PMO) Jitendra Singh added that while CAT was originally created to reduce the burden on high courts, the prevailing culture of routine appeals has diluted that purpose. “Are we really introducing ease of justice, or just adding one more step at the cost of the state exchequer and time?” he asked.

The chief justice also used the occasion to stress that judges and tribunal members must exercise their authority with humility and responsibility. Citing a recent report of a young lawyer collapsing in court after being browbeaten, he reminded the judiciary that judges and lawyers are 'two wheels of the golden chariot of justice' and that neither is superior to the other.

Justice Gavai acknowledged growing discontent in the Bar over the conduct of some judges and urged judicial officers to remain conscious of their role in shaping public trust in the justice system.

He further flagged that non-judicial members of tribunals, often drawn from the administrative services, were reluctant to pass orders adverse to the government. This, he says, undermines the independence expected of such bodies.

Justice Gavai also highlighted the need to make tribunal appointments more attractive for retired judges and senior judicial officers, pointing to service conditions as a factor that merits re-examination.

The conference, attended by judges, lawyers, tribunal members and senior ministers, also discussed the digitisation of judicial processes and innovations in administrative justice.

Justice Gavai’s remarks, particularly his call for a filtering agency for government appeals, are expected to reignite debate over systemic reforms to ensure speedier and more efficient justice delivery in the country.

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