Cases have to be decided purely on merits and a judge should not allow either external or internal pressures to cloud his judicial impartiality,senior Supreme Court judge Justice R V Raveendran said while speaking on the basics of Rendering Judgments at the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal recently. Laying down some basics for fellow judges in the apex court and subordinate courts,Justice Raveendran said,Cases are not mere statistics as they are not disposable commodities. Its purpose is not to provide a monthly disposal quota to judges or even a livelihood for lawyers. He asked judges to have an open and impartial mind. When a judge ceases to have an open and impartial mind,he ceases to be fair and just. In short,he ceases to be a judge, Justice Raveendran,who was appointed as a judge in the apex court in 2005 said. While external pressures arise on account of friendship,hostility,enmity,relationship,caste,community,religion,political affiliation,or promised or expected financial benefits,the pressures from within arise on account of a judges ideology or philosophy or attitude. Justice Raveendran,who is retiring in 2011,agreed that judges are also human beings and are bound to have convictions,prejudices,notions,views,which unconsciously influence and mould their decisions,thereby reflecting upon the manner in which they administer justice. That explains why some judges are known as convicting judge,acquitting judge,pro-poor judge or as a liberal or a negative judge. Despite acknowledging all these,he hoped that when a judge puts on his judicial robes,he should put off not only friendships,relations,caste,community,religion but all his personal interests,notions and personal philosophies. He (a judge) cannot owe any kind of allegiance to anything other than impartiality,truth and justice, he said. Hammering on impartiality as a virtue,the judge maintained that is not easy to achieve,acquire or maintain. It requires consent effort and sacrifice. He has also warned judges not to exhibit your knowledge and learning but ask questions so as to understand the issue at hand and then decide rather than attempting a decision without fully considering the finer nuances of the law involved. Justice Raveendran while detailing out the nuances of how to render judgments,cautioned judges of writing very lengthy verdicts.
