Issues plaguing judiciary a matter of concern, not Collegium: SC

It is not the functioning of the Collegium, which recommends appointment of judges for higher courts, but lack of adequate infrastructure and huge vacancies of judicial officers in subordinate courts that is a matter of concern for the judiciary, the Supreme Court said Thursday.

Deliberating on the issue of dealing with a sharp rise in the number of child rape cases, the apex court expressed anguish that judicial officers in places away from the national capital have to work in difficult conditions.

"What are the ground realities in states like Tripura, Odisha and Himachal Pradesh? In states like Madhya Pradesh, they still believe in putting curtains in the court between the accused and the victim," a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.

The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, said that courtrooms in Delhi district courts like in Saket cannot be compared with those in other parts of the country.

"You may have vulnerable witness room in Saket ...