Supreme Court on massive expansion mode - 27 new courtrooms, facilities for bar and women lawyers: CJI DY Chandrachud

The Supreme Court of India will expand its infrastructure to add 27 additional courtrooms, 4 registrar courtrooms and more facilities for lawyers and litigants, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday..The CJI revealed that in a bid to overhaul judicial infrastructure at the earliest, the Supreme Court is planning to construct a new building to accommodate additional courtrooms and other facilities.He further revealed that the museum and the annex building will be demolished to create more courtrooms and bar rooms for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) and bar room for women lawyers.."We need to overhaul judicial infrastructure at the earliest. We plan to expand the supreme court by constructing a new building to have 27 additional courtrooms, 4 registrar courtrooms and adequate facilities for lawyers and litigants. The museum and annex building will be demolished to create 15 courtrooms, SCBA, SCAORA Meeting rooms, women bar rooms," the CJI said.He was speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the SCBA in the Supreme Court premises. .The CJI said that the Supreme Court has submitted the proposal to the Central government and that the file is pending with the Department of Justice.Additionally, he said that as per the detailed plan report, the second part of the complex will lead to part demolition of the existing building to create 12 additional courtrooms..He remarked that over the past 76 years, the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive have all contributed significantly to the development of democracy.He highlighted that the preceding 76 years indicate that the history of the Indian judiciary is intertwined with the struggles of everyday common people. In this context, he underscored that it is the responsibility of the apex court to eliminate barriers that hinder people from accessing the courts. He also mentioned that a well-defined roadmap is already in place to ensure that the Constitution becomes accessible even to the most marginalized individuals.