Prime Minister inaugurates the joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices

Bringing Justice to the Doorsteps of the people is integral to our AIM of improving Access to Justice, Particularly for the poor and Marginalized people – Dr. Ashwani Kumar

Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts here today at Vigyan Bhawan. Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice Altamas Kabir, presided over the function.

Welcoming the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice, the Union Law & Justice Minister, Dr. Ashwani Kumar, said that under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the UPA Government is committed to securing the foundations of the rule of law and judicial independence as the non negotiable components of the basic structure of the Constitution. Together, the three organs of the Indian state must summon the national will in aid of constitutional goals, he said.

Following is the text of the speech of Dr. Ashwani Kumar:

“Today’s Conference being held after an interval of almost four years, is indeed opportune. The tragic incident in December last year in Delhi has understandably generated an intense public discourse on the credibility of our criminal justice system. Government has since responded swiftly by enacting the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013, in a clear demonstration of a sensitive and purposive response to strengthen the architecture of the justice delivery system in the country.

The Constitution mandates the State to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice for all on the basis of equal opportunity. I must, at the threshold, confess that our judicial system is under strain with more than 3 crore cases pending in various courts. The goal of affordable and expeditious justice for the common man is still a distant dream. As for the protective umbrella of the law, the majority of our people are still on the outside looking in, unable to count on the actual realization of their legal rights. For them, repeated affirmations of commitment to the rule of law and legal rights of citizens seem hollow. If law as an instrument of justice fails to secure the dignity and security of the disadvantaged, then the very idea of the rule of law as the defining distinction of our republican democracy will collapse. Legal empowerment of citizens and access to justice are integrally connected and protection against injustice remains the ultimate raison d’etre of laws in a civilized society. Indeed the principal function of the justice system should be to secure , in the words of Vaclev Havel “ humanity’s rightful dignity and moral integrity ”. This conference is unique in as much as the political and judicial wings of the state are meeting at the apex level to identify further initiatives that would empower us to secure justice social, political and economic for all our people.

It is clear that we need to make substantial investments in the physical and human resource infrastructure to strengthen the edifice of the justice delivery system. We need to begin by at least doubling the strength judges and judicial officers at various levels. Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India has written to the Chief Justices of High Courts to take up the matter with the respective State Governments to increase the outlay for judiciary in the States’ budgets and to persuade them to agree to doubling the existing number of courts in the subordinate judiciary. The Central Government is fully supportive of the cause and consultations are underway with the Planning Commission, the Finance Commission and the Ministry of Finance to find additional resources for the purpose. The National Mission on Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms has resolved that the overall number of Judges in the Subordinate Courts may be doubled and the expenditure in this regard may be shared between the Central and State Governments.

Improving the physical infrastructure of courts is another thrust area. The UPA Government is supporting infrastructure development for subordinate courts through a Centrally Sponsored Scheme whereunder 75% of the cost of infrastructure is funded by the Central Government and 25% by the State Government. This ratio is 90 : 10 for North-Eastern States. In the last two years alone, more than Rs.1300 crore has been released to the States and Union Territories for this purpose. A provision of Rs.4867 crore has been kept in the 12th Plan. The Central Government looks forward to receiving Action Plans from State Governments for development of infrastructure for more Subordinate Courts during the current year to enable the release of funds.

Out-of-Court settlement of disputes is increasingly seen as a means of reducing the increasing burden of backlog of pending cases. Alternate dispute redressal mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation, arbitration and Lok Adalats have been supported by the Government through various schemes. The fact that about 11 lakh Lok Adalats have been held throughout the country where more than 3.76 crore cases have been settled testifies to the popularity of the Lok Adalats as a dispute settlement mechanism as well as a means of relieving regular courts of the burden of backlog. The Thirteenth Finance Commission has allocated Rs.100 crore for Lok Adalats, Rs.600 crore for setting up ADR Centres and another Rs.150 crore for training of mediators and conciliators. State Governments are encouraged to access these funds to increase the use of Lok Adalats as a means of dispute settlement.

Bringing justice to the doorsteps of the people is integral to our aim of improving access to justice, particularly for the poor and marginalized people of the country. The Gram Nyayalaya Scheme is an important initiative for bringing justice to people in the remotest part of our country. Unfortunately, this scheme has not taken off as expected. As against the goal of setting up more than 5,000 Gram Nyayalayas in the country, only 172 have been notified so far, of which 152 are operational. Pursuant to the thrust given by the Law Ministry, I am hopeful that 616 Gram Nyalas could be established by 2014. The importance of making the scheme successfull cannot be over stated. This Conference will, I am told, focus on means to extend the reach of justice to all.

Following the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Brij Mohan Lal case, State Governments are in the process of adding ten per cent additional judges in the subordinate judiciary. Central Government has decided to fund salaries of the judges on a matching basis by using funds available under the 13th Finance Commission Award. We have held several meetings with the State Governments and the High Courts to find innovative ways to use the 13th Finance Commission Award for setting up morning/evening/Special Courts to reduce backlog of pending cases.

I have written to Chief Justices of the High Courts to invite attention of district judges to relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure to limit adjournments and expedite disposal of cases. We have also written to Judicial Academies to increase the frequency of training of judges for their sensitization on gender issues. All this has been possible because of the increased synergy between executive and judicial organs of the state. This Conference is another milestone in that direction.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister the UPA Government is committed to securing the foundations of the rule of law and judicial independence as the non negotiable components of the basic structure of the Constitution. Together, the three organs of the Indian state must summon the national will in aid of constitutional goals. We stand at the gates of an important epoch and must seize the moment inspired by the spirit of a young and resurgent nation for we know that the defining moments of history often come without a warning. At a time when we aspire to play our rightful role on the world stage, India’s ascendency must represent to the world the vindication of its high constitutional ideals - the constant expansion of human freedoms, an embrace of diversity and multi-culturalism, a repudiation of extremes and an irrevocable commitment to the ideals of secular and liberal democracy. Our constitution embraces the idea of unity and diversity as the “ two banks of the river of culture and civilization, of the heart and mind, wherein flows the multiple in freedom..” Our pluralist democracy affirms the “resonating integrity of the multiple”. It is this vision enshrined in the our fundamental law which inspires our Government and has been repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court.

I take this opportunity of saluting the higher judiciary for persevering with its role as sentinels on the qui for securing the values of our justly revered constitution. Through its scholarly judgments, the Supreme Court has clothed the constitution with a meaning that has touched the lives of millions in a truly transformative script for national renewal. In their task of ensuring that our republican charter remains a “living constitution”, judges have not shirked from shifting their attention from word play to the facts of life. Their judgments have given meaning to the spirit of the constitution in new settings as we evolve into a progressive nation. We have constantly reminded ourselves that there is no such thing as a constitutional provision with a static meaning. The path-breaking judgements of the Supreme Court in D.S. Nakara, Dayanand Shetty, Maneka Gandhi, Waman Rao, Bacchan Singh, I. R. Coelho, Chameli Singh, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Mohini Jain, Keshvanands Bharati and S.R. Bommai to name only a few, have more than demonstrated the dynamism of our constitution through creative judicial interpretations.

Let us once again dedicate ourselves to redeeming the promise of the Constitution guaranteeing justice under law to all our citizens. I hope that your deliberations will yield concrete suggestions enabling us to strengthen the edifice of our justice system - such as would satisfy the aspirations of a young, progressive and resurgent nation steeped in a tradition that instinctively reveres justice in all its manifestations.”

The Conference has been organized by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice, to address pressing issues relating to the administration of justice in the country. The Chief Ministers of all the States/ Union Territories and Chief Justices of all the High Courts were invited. With the establishment of 3 new High Courts of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura last month, there are 24 High Courts in the country as on date.The last such Conference was held on in August 2009.