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Cutting barriers to justice a key task for courts: CJI Chandrachud
CJI D Y Chandrachud highlighted the challenges faced by the judiciary, including eliminating barriers to accessing justice and enhancing court infrastructure.
The Supreme Court has been the “vanguard of institutional governance by enhancing access to justice and promoting constitutional values”, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said on Tuesday, adding that functionality of courts is determined by how effectively they can answer the call of constitutional duty.
Speaking at an event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to celebrate Independence Day, the first judge of the country underscored the role of the apex court in providing “a safe democratic space for individuals to seek protection of their rights and liberties” and listed the challenges that lie ahead of the judiciary. The greatest one, Justice Chandrachud emphasised, is eliminating the barriers to accessing justice.
With Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in attendance, the CJI said that the past 76 years suggest that the history of the Indian judiciary has been the history of the daily life struggles of the Indian people.
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“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. Resolution of every legal grievance is important. In attending to such grievances, the courts are merely performing their plain constitutional duty,” he said.
Courts in independent India, justice Chandrachud said, have ensured that the law exudes human interest and responds positively to the plight of every individual in our society – regardless of their social and economic background. “The functionality of courts is determined by how effectively they can answer the call of constitutional duty.”
Alluding to the challenges of the Indian judiciary, the CJI said that the judiciary must enhance access to justice procedurally by eliminating the constraints which prevent citizens from approaching courts, and substantively by building confidence in the court’s ability to dispense justice.
“And we have the roadmap in place to make sure that the future Indian judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line. To make our courts accessible and inclusive, we need to overhaul our court infrastructure on a priority basis. Our emphasis is on modernizing the judicial infrastructure to meet the challenges of the future,” said the judge.
Unveiling plans to expand the infrastructure of the Supreme Court which currently has 16-17 court halls, the CJI said that a two phase-plan is in offing to expand the Supreme Court by constructing a new building to accommodate 27 additional courts, 51 judges’ chambers, 4 registrar court rooms, 16 registrar chambers, and other requisite facilities for lawyers and litigants. “The new building will reflect the constitutional aspirations, beliefs, and priorities of the Indian people, in addition to providing a space which facilitates access to justice,” he said.
Apart from upgrading the physical infrastructure, justice Chandrachud said, technology is the best tool to eliminate the inefficiency and opacity surrounding the judicial processes. “We have to tap into the full potential of technology to overcome the procedural barriers to justice. In pursuance of this, we are implementing Phase III of the e-Courts project. Phase III of the e-Courts project seeks to revolutionize the working of courts in India by inter-linking of all courts across the country, setting up the infrastructure of paperless court, digitization of court records, and setting up advanced e-sewa kendras in all court complexes,” he added.
The CJI said that the goal is to create a judicial system that is more accessible, cost-effective, and affordable for every individual who seeks justice. “The recent initiatives of the Supreme Court such as live streaming of court proceedings, translation of judgment from English to vernacular languages, and live transcription of court proceedings will contribute towards transparency of our legal processes,” he highlighted.
Legitimacy of courts, justice Chandrachud said, can be secured only when the courts establish themselves as robust independent institutions, which are impervious to the identity of the litigant but cognizant of their context.
“In this regard, the judges and lawyers should conduct themselves in a manner which will inspire confidence about the independence and the integrity of our legal processes. Recently, the Supreme Court released the Sensitization module for the judiciary on the LGBTQIA+ community and will, very soon, be releasing the Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes in Judicial decision-making. These efforts are aimed to ensure that we look inwards, question our biases, and insulate judicial institutions from embodying and entrenching those biases,” he emphasised.
For the past 76 years, the CJI said, courts have served as the prominent sites of democratic participation. “For the future, we have to recognize and eliminate the existing barriers to accessing courts, and in the process ensure that the courts continue to serve an effective and affordable democratic space.”
