Greatest challenge before judiciary is to eliminate barriers: CJI

Chief Justice of India CJI D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate the barriers to accessing justice and make sure that judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the lineHe also said that there is a need to overhaul the infrastructure on a priority basis to make courts accessible and inclusiveSpeaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association SCBA at the apex court lawns the CJI said the aim is to create a judicial system which is more accessible and costeffective for the people and that full potential of technology has to be tapped to overcome the procedural barriers to justiceWhile referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modis speech at the Red Fort Justice Chandrachud said the PM mentioned about the apex courts efforts to translate judgements in Indian languagesThe CJI said up to now 9423 judgements of the top court have been translated in regional languagesBesides the CJI Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal other judges of the apex court Attorney General R Venkataramani SCBA office bearers including its president and senior advocate Adish C Aggarwala and secretary Rohit Pandey were present during the programmeDuring his address the CJI said over 19000 cases have been disposed by the top court between March and June this yearAs I look to the future I believe the greatest challenge before the Indian judiciary is to eliminate the barriers to accessing justice he saidWe have to enhance access to justice procedurally by eliminating the constraints which prevent citizens from approaching courts and substantively by building confidence in the courts ability to dispense justice and we have a road map in place to make sure that the future of Indian judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line the CJI saidHe also spoke about the plan to expand the apex court by constructing a new building to accommodate 27 additional courts four registrar courtrooms and adequate facilities for lawyers and litigantsHe said to make the courts accessible and inclusive we need to overhaul our court infrastructure on a priority basisJustice Chandrachud said the emphasis on modernising the judicial infrastructure to meet the challenges of the future is key to this missionOn the use of technology in the judicial process the CJI said it is the best tool to eliminate inefficiencyWe have to tap into the full potential of technology to overcome procedural barriers to justice In pursuance of this we are implementing phase three of the ecourts project he saidJustice Chandrachud said phase three of ecourts project has received a budgetary sanction of the Centre to the extent of Rs 7000 crore and it seeks to revolutionise the working of courts by interlinking all courts across the country setting up infrastructure of paperless courts digitisation of court records and setting of advance esewa kendras in all court complexesOur aim is to create a judicial system that is more accessible costeffective and affordable for every individual who seek justice We are already striving to make the court premises and court services disabledfriendly he saidThe CJI also talked about efforts of the apex court to make all its 35000 judgements available to citizens in regional languagesI must also share with you that the prime minister today in the course of his Independence Day speech at the Red fort mentioned about efforts of the Supreme Court to translate the judgements of the Supreme Court in Indian languages he saidI would like to further elaborate on that and tell you that up to now 9423 judgements of the Supreme Court have been translated in regional languages the CJI said adding 8977 judgements are in Hindi and also in languages like Assamese Bengali Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Marathi Punjabi Tamil and UrduThe CJI said irrespective of the outcome of a case he believes that the real strength of the system is granting access to justice to the citizensIf we glance at the last 76 years we realise that each institution has contributed to strengthening of our nations soul and it is important that we recognise that all the institutions of our nation the executive the legislature and the judiciary are associated with common task of nation building he saidJustice Chandrachud said courts provide a safe democratic space for individuals to seek protection of their lives and libertiesThe past 76 years suggests that the history of the Indian judiciary is the history of the daily life struggles of Indian people If our history teaches us anything it is this that no matter is big or small for the courts It is in the routinely small matters that issues of grave constitutional and jurisprudential importance emerge he saidThe CJI said resolution of every legal grievance is important and in attending to such grievances the courts are only performing their constitutional dutyHe also talked about the initiatives of the apex court including livestreaming of court proceedings to contribute to the transparency of legal processJustice Chandrachud said it has been brought to his notice that verification of cases filed in the apex court takes time and he is working very closely to ensure that it is reducedGiving data about the number of cases filed and disposed of by the apex court he said in March this year 4527 cases were filed 22282 cases were listed and 4086 were disposed ofThe CJI said in April this year 4716 cases were filed while 4700 were disposed ofOur aim for future is to ensure that our judicial systems are capable of managing the expectations of the Indian people Legitimacy of our institutions can be secured only when the courts establish themselves as robust independent institutions he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever