Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said ₹800 crore has been approved for the expansion of the Supreme Court building complex, while underlining that “ease of justice is the right of every Indian citizen and the Supreme Court is its medium”.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the diamond jubilee year celebrations of the Supreme Court.
Complimenting the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud for his efforts to improve ease of justice in the country, Mr. Modi said the government is committed to improving the physical infrastructure of the courts.
The Prime Minister said that over ₹7,000 crore has been disbursed since 2014 to better the physical infrastructure of the courts.
Mr. Modi highlighted the importance of using technology for ease of justice. He said the entire legal system rests on the advice and direction given by the Supreme Court. The Prime Minister said accessibility to the apex court should be available to those in the farthest corners of the country.
“Whether it is freedom of expression, personal freedom or social justice, the Supreme Court has strengthened India’s vibrant democracy… A strong judicial system is the main foundation of a Viksit Bharat,” the Prime Minister said.
Unveiling the 75th year of the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister launched citizen-centric information and technology initiatives like the Digital Supreme Court Reports (Digi SCR), which has 36,308 cases of the apex court, dating back from 1950, accessible to the public in the digital format. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the launch of a new bi-lingual website of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Modi highlighted that the government’s initiatives in abolishing outdated colonial criminal laws and introducing new legislation such as the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Samhita, Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita, and Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam have ushered legal, policing, and investigative systems into a new era.
“The transition from old laws to new ones should be seamless, which is imperative,” Mr. Modi said.
The Prime Minister said training and capacity-building initiatives for government officials to facilitate the transition have begun. He urged the Supreme Court to also engage in capacity-building for all stakeholders.
He highlighted the government’s continuous efforts to create a reliable legal framework, citing the enactment of the Jan Vishwas Bill as a step in the right direction while also reducing the number of pending cases, thereby alleviating unnecessary pressure on the judiciary.
The Prime Minister expressed pride at the conferring of the Padma Bhushan to late Justice M. Fathima Beevi.
Dr. Chandrachud, Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Supreme Court judges, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Adish C. Aggarwala, and Chairperson of the Bar Council of India Manan Kumar Mishra were present on the occasion.
