Justice Oka seeks automated Supreme Court roster to curb manual case listing

Justice Oka called for automated case listing and a transparent Supreme Court roster. The reforms could reduce arbitrariness while strengthening judicial accountability and independence.Image used for representational purposes onlyNewdelhi,Oct 27, 2026 21:04 ISTFormer Supreme Court judge Justice A S Oka on Tuesday said the top court was also centred around the Chief Justice and needed a proper roster system to prevent manual intervention in the listing of cases, news agency Press Trust of India reported.Justice Oka also backed the collegium system, saying it should not be replaced unless a better alternative was found. He called for stronger judicial accountability at all levels without compromising judicial independence.Speaking in New Delhi at an event organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms on the theme, 'Accountability of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts', Justice Oka said he firmly believed in the collegium system.'I am a firm believer in the collegium system because I feel that unless it is replaced by a better system, we should not replace it,' he said, adding that mistakes in its implementation did not make the system itself bad. Justice Oka said publishing collegium resolutions on the Supreme Court website was not enough to ensure transparency. 'By publishing detailed resolutions on the website, that itself doesn't bring transparency in the functioning of the collegium. The transparency has to be in the process which is followed,' he said.He also sought greater accountability from the government, pointing out that recommendations made by the collegium often remained pending for months. According to PTI, Justice Oka said the Supreme Court needed a proper roster system, similar to those followed by high courts, to ensure transparent allocation of cases and eliminate the possibility of manual intervention.'The Supreme Court of India will become more accountable to the litigants if it introduces a proper system of roster on par with the high court, so that manual intervention even by the Chief Justice of India is ruled out,' he said.Justice Oka said the existing system allowed cases in the same category to be assigned to multiple benches, leaving litigants uncertain about which bench would hear their matters.He also supported the automatic listing of newly filed cases to remove arbitrariness and ensure that litigants did not have to repeatedly approach courts for hearing dates. 'To bring about transparency in listing of fresh cases, auto-dating is the only solution,' he said.He cited the Karnataka High Court's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the practice reportedly ensured that cases were listed on time.Justice Oka also criticised the practice of courts ordering the disposal of cases within a fixed period without considering the number of pending cases and the workload of the courts concerned. He said such directions created a separate queue for privileged litigants who could approach higher courts.'By virtue of these orders, we create another queue of privileged litigants,' he said, comparing the arrangement with separate queues for ordinary visitors and VIPs at temples.He called for a rational policy to decide which cases should receive priority. He said bail matters, old criminal cases and disputes involving ordinary citizens should not be overlooked in favour of commercial litigation.On judicial accountability, Justice Oka said judges must follow binding precedents and their judgments should be open to constructive criticism based on legal reasoning, without motives being attributed to them.He also emphasised the need to strengthen the trial and district judiciary through adequate appointments and a rational transfer policy. Judicial independence depended partly on predictable transfers of trial court judges and sufficient judicial strength to deal with the growing number of pending cases, he said.'Every dimension of accountability must be strengthened without compromising on judicial independence,' Justice Oka said.The event was attended by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, advocate Prashant Bhushan, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Rekha Sharma, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, activist Yogendra Yadav and AISA president Neha Bora.Sibal, who also addressed the gathering, said the country was facing an institutional crisis and public confidence in the judiciary was gradually eroding. He said administrative decisions, including the allocation of politically sensitive cases to judges, lacked accountability and transparency.'Independence without accountability is insulation. Accountability without independence is subordination,' Sibal said, stressing that administrative decisions must inspire public confidence.On the collegium system, Sibal said it had developed serious shortcomings despite being introduced to protect judicial independence from executive interference. 'The process remains opaque. Criteria are not published. Reasons for recommendation or rejection are not disclosed in any form that permits public understanding,' he said.The speakers called for greater transparency and accountability in judicial appointments, case allocation and court administration while maintaining judicial independence.- Ends