{"id":23157,"date":"2017-04-12T11:39:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T06:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=23157"},"modified":"2017-10-16T13:05:42","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T07:35:42","slug":"judges-appointment-issue-trumps-gorsuch-appointment-sets-a-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/international-fake\/judges-appointment-issue-trumps-gorsuch-appointment-sets-a-precedent\/","title":{"rendered":"Judges\u2019 Appointment Issue: Trump\u2019s Gorsuch Appointment Sets a Precedent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div id=\"tdi_1\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_2  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_2,\r\n                .tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }.tdi_2,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_2 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_4  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_4{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_4 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_4 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_4 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_4 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_4 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper wpb_text_column td_block_wrap td_block_wrap vc_column_text tdi_5  tagdiv-type td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\"  data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_5\" ><div class=\"td-block-title-wrap\"><\/div><div class=\"td-fix-index\"><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>~By Sujit Bhar<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"tdi_6\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_7  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_7,\r\n                .tdi_7 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }.tdi_7,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_7 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_7 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_9  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_9{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_9 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper wpb_text_column td_block_wrap td_block_wrap vc_column_text tdi_10  tagdiv-type td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\"  data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_10\" ><div class=\"td-block-title-wrap\"><\/div><div class=\"td-fix-index\"><p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The executive and the judiciary have remained so interlinked \u2013 even in countries where the separation of the \u2018church\u2019 and the state has been established centuries ago \u2013 there is probably no case study possible in isolation, bereft of external influence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Without demeaning the authority of the judiciary or the state, why would things come to the fore in the selection\/nomination of a Supreme Court judge, be it in the US or in India? Much has been talked about the appointment of the 49-year-old Neil Gorsuch as the new US Supreme Court Judge, filling the vacancy left in the death of the conservative Antonin Scalia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Frankly, going by his track record, he may not prove to be such a bad choice by President Donald Trump, after all. At least, nobody would call him a White supremacist ideologue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The situation in India, though, is a tussle between the judiciary and the government, a situation that has left large numbers of cases hanging in limbo, with a pendency situation that can hardly be solved in the next 20 years, even with the full complement of judges in session.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The situation in the US Federal Supreme Court is pretty different. It\u2019s Supreme Court has nine judges nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They are appointed for life.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_23167\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23167\" style=\"width: 1064px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/s3apnlivemumbai.s3-website.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" td-modal-image wp-image-23167 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/s3apnlivemumbai.s3-website.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5.jpg\" alt=\"(L-R) The graph and table shows pendency of cases in Supreme Court of India. Photo courtesy: Supreme Court of India\" width=\"1064\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5.jpg 1064w, https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5-696x458.jpg 696w, https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Second-picture5-638x420.jpg 638w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1064px) 100vw, 1064px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-23167\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L-R) The graph and table shows pendency of cases in Supreme Court of India. Photo courtesy: Supreme Court of India<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Chief Justices in India have never had long terms, being promoted through the system and retirement age often cutting short glorious terms. In a system as in India it would not be possible to have life-terms for Supreme Court judges, but maybe it would be a possibility to fix a three-four year term for each Chief Justice, irrespective of age. Technically, this should be a term in which he or she can see through the course of a case and deliver a balanced judgement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Personal opinions really would cut little ice in these high-powered corridors, but this also brings to light the selection process of a judge of the Supreme Court in India. While the President has a big say in selecting his choice for the Supreme Court in the US, he has to depend on the Senate for reaffirming his choice. The Senate can get stubborn, as it did in this case, where the US has a rather interesting option of going \u2018nuclear\u2019, or to have a shorter, more concentrated voters\u2019 list of supporters. When the choice of Gorsuch bounced off the full Senate voting table, this \u2018nuclear\u2019 option was resorted to and Gorsuch was through. Trump boasted how he did it, and within the first 100 days too.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"tdi_11\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_12  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_12,\r\n                .tdi_12 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }.tdi_12,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_12 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_12 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_14  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_14{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_14 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_14 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_14 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_14 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_14 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper wpb_text_column td_block_wrap td_block_wrap vc_column_text tdi_15  tagdiv-type td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\"  data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_15\" ><div class=\"td-block-title-wrap\"><\/div><div class=\"td-fix-index\"><blockquote class=\"td_quote_box td_box_center\"><p>\n<span style=\"color: #d33333\">While the President has a big say in selecting his choice for the Supreme Court in the US, he has to depend on the Senate for reaffirming his choice. The Senate can get stubborn, as it did in this case, where the US has a rather interesting option of going \u2018nuclear\u2019, or to have a shorter, more concentrated voters\u2019 list of supporters.<\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"tdi_16\" class=\"tdc-row\"><div class=\"vc_row tdi_17  wpb_row td-pb-row\" >\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_17,\r\n                .tdi_17 .tdc-columns{\r\n                    min-height: 0;\r\n                }.tdi_17,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_17 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_17 .tdc-columns{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"vc_column tdi_19  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<style scoped>\n\n\/* custom css *\/\n.tdi_19{\r\n                    vertical-align: baseline;\r\n                }.tdi_19 > .wpb_wrapper,\r\n\t\t\t\t.tdi_19 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    display: block;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_19 > .wpb_wrapper > .tdc-elements{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_19 > .wpb_wrapper > .vc_row_inner{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}.tdi_19 > .wpb_wrapper{\r\n\t\t\t\t    width: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t    height: auto;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\n<\/style><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper wpb_text_column td_block_wrap td_block_wrap vc_column_text tdi_20  tagdiv-type td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\"  data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_20\" ><div class=\"td-block-title-wrap\"><\/div><div class=\"td-fix-index\"><p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The possibility of Indian courts solving their pendency issue quickly is far-fetched. According to several chief justices even if all courts have their full quota of judges, this will take decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">If we study the institution, disposal and pendency of cases in the Indian Supreme Court till September 2016, we see a curve that initially was optimistic in the disposal (2013) rising to 92,722, against institution of 76,742, but then disposal slumped to 82,092, while institution soared to 89,164. Pendency, however, remained high at around 66,000 during those periods with almost all slumping to around the 60,000 mark in September.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Hence it is not just a case of resolution of pending cases, but also of the handling of newly instituted cases at the Supreme Court, most of which are government related.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">How is Gorsuch\u2019s nomination related to this? Apparently not, though if one cares to look carefully, the US President \u2013 right or wrong is another issue \u2013 and the Republicans found a way to push through a crucial appointee and settle a dispute once and for all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The Memorandum of Procedure that has been the cause of battle between the Supreme Court Collegium (a body that is scheduled to oversee appointment of high court and Supreme Court judges in India) and the executive probably does need a change. Somewhere the public deserves judgement and not delays.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">One can take a leaf out of Trump, for a change.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1992],"tags":[6397,5532,6396,3972,2982,1735,5415,6395],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/d2r2ijn7njrktv.cloudfront.net\/IL\/uploads\/2017\/04\/lead17.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}