President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday emphasized on implementation of a judicial system in which obstacles behind the delay in delivery of justice could be removed to ensure timely justice.
Supporting his recommendation, Kovind said that the objective of the judicial system is not merely to resolve disputes, but also to uphold justice.
“The objective of the judicial system is not merely to resolve disputes, but also to uphold justice and one way to uphold justice is to remove obstacles like delay in the delivery of justice. Justice is not delayed only by lack of court’s functioning or system,” said the President while speaking at the inauguration of the All-India State Judicial Academies Directors’ Retreat at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
Noting the rapid increase of technology in the judicial system, the President stressed the need to introduce the use of technology in all judicial processes for “speedy delivery of justice”.
“To provide speedy delivery of justice, it is essential that besides extensive judicial training, there is a need to introduce the use of technology in our judicial processes.
“Due to the increasing number of cases, it becomes necessary to understand the issues’ incorrect perspectives and take accurate decisions in a short time. The introduction of new laws, extensive changes in the nature of litigation, and the need to settle cases in a time-bound manner have also made it imperative for judges to have up-to-date knowledge of the law and procedures,” said the President.
More than 18,000 courts have been computerized in the country. Till January, including the lockdown period, around 76 lakh cases were heard in virtual courts across the country.
The President said that initiatives like National Judicial Data Grid, Unique Identification Code, and QR Code are being appreciated globally. With the help of e-courts, video conferencing, e-proceedings, e-filing, and e-Seva centers, it is easier for the judicial administration to dispense justice.
“Another benefit of this technological intervention is that due to these initiatives, use of paper has decreased, which helps conserve the natural resources,” Kovind said.
Discussing that the lower judiciary is the core of the country’s judicial system and mentioning that our judicial academies are doing an important job by training law students into learned judges, the President said there is a need to increase the scope of training of judges as well as other judicial and quasi-judicial officers for speedy disposal of pending cases in our courts, especially in the district courts.
The President said: ‘We, the people of India’, have high expectations from the judiciary. Society expects judges to be knowledgeable, prudent, affectionate, dignified and impartial.”
“Quality is given more importance than numbers in the judicial system. And, to meet these requirements, it is very important to keep updating the training procedures, knowledge, technology, and judicial skills. Thus, even at the induction level and in-service training, the role of state judicial academies becomes very important in educating judges in a manner to measure up to expectation.”
