Chief Justice of India SA Bobde raised the issue of backlog of cases at a program held yesterday to mark the celebration of Constitution Day.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind and Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad were among the attendees of the Constitution Day celebration. While delivering his address to mark the occasion, CJI Bobde said,
“We have seen testing times where the Constitution processes were challenged, but now we are celebrating the constitutional challenge that has survived 70 years.”
The CJI went on the speak about the pendency of cases, which he described as being a huge issue in the country at present.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Rule of law is not just about settling issues but also about settling issues in an effective manner.
While we will continue to add more judges to deal with both the backlog of cases, and the flow of new cases… We need something transformational to the cause of delivering timely justice to India’s citizens. We do not have the luxury of dealing with the backlog of cases in isolation.”
He also highlighted infrastructural issues that the Judiciary, and in particular the lower courts, were facing.
“We are alarmed by the infrastructure and finance given to the Judiciary…[There is] Unfortunate lack of proper facilities especially for women, children and the differently abled.”
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The Constitution Day function was also marked by the unveiling of the Supreme Court’s official mobile application and the machine-assisted translation tool that employs Artificial Intelligence, ‘Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software’ or SUVAS for facilitating translation of judicial documents in eight languages.
The mobile app was developed with the technical consultation of the National Informatics Centre. The app will provide “authentic real time” access and updates with regard to Case Status, Display Board, Daily Orders, Judgments, Office Reports, Circulars and other useful information for lawyers and litigants. The app will be made available for download from the official website of the Supreme Court. It will be available in English, Hindi and six other regional languages.
The unveiling of these new services took place after the inaugural address by President Kovind.
In his address, President Kovind encouraged lawyers to take up pro bono cases, and “to distribute the fruits of knowledge to the needy.” While addressing the issue of accessibility of justice by all, he stated that it has to be a “collective effort of all the stakeholders, the Bench and the Bar”.
He further stated that language acts as a barrier to understanding Supreme Court judgments. In order to address this issue, the official multilingual mobile app of the Supreme Court is being made available in eight languages, he said.
In his address, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad remembered the founding fathers of the Constitution as well as the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, who was also part of the legal fraternity. The Minister also took this opportunity to laud the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in the Ayodhya dispute.
“One part that has to be highlighted in the judgement is that the Court particularly noted the assimilating traditions of India which has impacted all the religions over the years. No religion is an exception of that. That assimilating, integrating of religion is what is truly the heritage of India.”
Attorney General for India KK Venugopal, in his brief address, yet again batted for the setting up of four Courts of Appeal so as to enable the Supreme Court to be entrusted with the sole task of deciding on Constitutional issues. He proposed that elevation of judges would be done using the same mechanism by which judges of the higher judiciary are elevated. He further clarified that the Courts of Appeal would deal with all others matters other than constitutional matters, and that their decisions would be final and binding. AG Venugopal noted that this would hugely reduce the burden on judges, which would in turn result in positive changes.
The welcome address was delivered by Justice NV Ramana, who focused on the effective implementation of the Constitution. Justice Arun Mishra delivered the vote of thanks at the conclusion of the event. President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Rakesh Khanna also delivered an address.