Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said that judges and advocates should strive for expeditious delivery of justice to keep up the respect and trust people have on the judiciary.
The CJI along with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and A.P. High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra inaugurated 'Vijayawada Court Complex' in the city on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering of judges and advocates, Justice Ramana said, "you all know that pending cases are one of the major concerns of the judiciary. Judges and advocates should always strive to deliver justice on time. It is important because people approach courts as a last resort. Judiciary will sustain only when it is respected by society and democracy will be in danger if it is not."
The onus of making best use of the infrastructure provided here lies on the judges and advocates who should ensure effective functioning of the courts, he said.
"I have several times sought funding by the Centre for improvement of judicial infrastructure. Though the Centre disagreed with it to an extent, the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, A.P. and Tamil Nadu have supported it, for which I thank them," he said.
Post bifurcation A.P. was lagging behind in financial and other aspects, the centre should also support the State, he said.
Justice Ramana said that society would develop only if all the communities are given equal representation and opportunities.
"I have appointed over 250 advocates, 11 Supreme Court judges and 15 Chief Justices of High Courts and ensured that all castes, regions and women are given a chance. With this, respect on judiciary increases among all sections of the people," he said.
Justice Ramana asked Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to ensure that other required facilities are arranged in the court complex and the construction of court complex in Visakhapatnam is completed at the earliest.
Justice Ramana thanked all the advocates and judges in the city where he started his career as a member of the Bezawada Bar Association decades ago.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the State government would extend all the necessary support to the judiciary. He said inauguration of the complex by the son of the soil (Justice Ramana) was a special and rare happening.
Justice Ramana laid the foundation for the construction of the building on May 11, 2013, at a cost of ₹58 crore and the construction was delayed due to bifurcation of the State, financial and other hiccups. The project cost escalated to about Rs. 100 crore. The eight storeyed building has 29 air-conditioned court rooms and two auditoriums.
High Court judges, district judges, lawyers and others were present.
