Judicial freedom cornerstone of democracy, says President
ALLAHABAD : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday described freedom of the judiciary as one of the cornerstones of “our democracy”.
India’s credibility was enhanced by a fearless and independent judiciary, he observed.
He was speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of Nyaya Gram, a model township that will have a judicial academy, a stateof-the art auditorium and residences at Devghat in the Jhalwa area of Allahabad.
He dedicated the foundation laying ceremony to the bravehearts of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The war ended on December 16, 1971 when the Pakistan military signed the instrument of surrender in Dhaka
He advocated the use of local language too in legal arguments and judgments to ensure that the poor people understood the verdicts.
He gave the example of the Chhattisgarh high court which has decided to provide Hindi translation of its judgments to litigants. The President requested the chief justice and other judges to try to implement this policy here also. The function was held on the Allahabad high court ground.
Although citizens had faith in the judiciary, the common people tended to avoid knocking on its doors, he observed.
“It is important to change this situation. On all of us lies the responsibility of providing justice on time, making the justice system less expensive, providing judgments in a language understandable to the common citizen, and ensuring justice for women and weaker sections in society,” he maintained.
“I have seen from close the struggle of the poor for justice. The justice system should be affordable and speedy with a special focus on poor and women. Lawyers should avoid seeking unnecessary adjournment of cases,” he said.
Praising Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Moti Lal Nehru and other legal luminaries, he said the Allahabad high court delivered historic judgments in the Chauri Chaura and Meerut conspiracy cases before independence.
Cornelia Sorabji, India’s first woman advocate, was enrolled in this high court when other high courts refused to allow a woman lawyer to practise, he said.
The President said that it was necessary to strengthen judicial infrastructure and expressed hope that the Nyaya Gram project would prove to be a milestone in fulfilling the requirements of the Allahabad high court.
The President said training of judicial officers was very important to improve the efficiency and quality of the lower courts.
Governor Ram Naik, who was among the guests of honour, said since chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said he will help in completing construction of the auditorium within a year and a half, he will ensure that files related to ‘Nyaya Gram’ moved fast in his office.
Naik expressed confidence that the strength of high court judges will increase from 108 to 160 very soon.
Justice Ashok Bhushan of the Supreme Court said building a judicial academy was an investment which will improve the justice delivery system in the state.