“Thus, every case in every court in the country is an extension of the constitutional rule,” the chief justice said while inaugurating the ‘Constitution Day’ celebrations at the apex court. President Draupadi Murmu delivered the inaugural address at the event. Supreme Court Judges Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and many other dignitaries were present in this ceremony. In his address, the Chief Justice said, ‘In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has functioned as a Lok Adalat. Thousands of citizens have knocked on its doors with the belief that they will get justice through this institution.
He said citizens must demand protection of their personal liberties, accountability against illegal arrests, protection of bonded labourers’ rights, demand of tribals for protection of their land, prevention of social evils like manual scavenging and access to clean air. Hope for intervention. Justice Chandrachud said, ‘These cases are not just quotes or statistics for the court. These cases match people’s expectations from the Supreme Court as well as the Court’s own commitment to justice for citizens.
He said that the Supreme Court is perhaps the only court in the world where any citizen can trigger the constitutional mechanism of the Supreme Court by writing to the CJI. He said that apart from ensuring justice to citizens through its judgments, the Supreme Court is making continuous efforts to ensure that its administrative processes are citizen-centric, so that people feel connected to the functioning of the court.
He said, ‘People should not be afraid to approach the court or see it as a last resort. I hope that through our efforts citizens of every class, caste and creed will be able to trust our justice system and see it as a fair and effective forum for the exercise of rights. Justice Chandrachud said that the court is now doing ‘live streaming’ of its proceedings and the decision has been taken to let citizens know what is happening inside the court room.
He said, ‘Constant media reporting on court proceedings shows public participation in the functioning of the court room.’ He said the Supreme Court has also decided to translate its judgments into regional languages with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology. The Chief Justice said, ‘The Supreme Court has delivered 36,068 judgments in English from the date of its first sitting till November 25, 2023, but proceedings in our district courts are not conducted in English.’
The CJI said that all these decisions are available on the e-SCR platform for free. The platform was launched in January this year. “Today, we are launching e-SCR in Hindi, as 21,388 judgments have been translated into Hindi, checked and uploaded on the e-SCR portal,” he said. Besides, till Saturday evening, 9,276 judgments have been translated into other Indian languages including Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali and Urdu, he said.
Discussing technology and its use by the judiciary, he also mentioned the introduction of ‘e-Seva Kendras’ in courts so that no citizen is left behind in the judicial process. The Chief Justice said that on Constitution Day last year, the President expressed concern over overcrowding of prisoners in jails and incarceration of marginalized people in society. He said, ‘…I want to assure you (the President) that we are working continuously to make the legal processes easier and simpler, so that citizens are not unnecessarily imprisoned.’
Justice Chandrachud said that version 2.0 of the ‘Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records’ (FASTR) application will be launched on Sunday, which ensures that the judicial order of release of a person is immediately transmitted electronically to jail authorities, district courts. Transferred to the High Court, so that the person concerned can be released in time.
The CJI said that when the country already celebrates Independence Day and Republic Day, then why a separate Constitution Day? He further said, ‘The answer lies in the success of our democracy as compared to the countries which gained independence from colonialism along with India.’ He said that India has not only maintained its constitution, but people have assimilated it as a symbol of their aspirations. “The celebration of Constitution Day is a symbol of the social life of an independent nation,” said the CJI.
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