Citizens should not be afraid of approaching courts, says CJI Chandrachud

Justice Chandrachud said the apex court was perhaps the only court in the world where any citizen could set in motion the constitutional machinery simply by writing to the CJI.

New Delhi:Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday said that the apex court has acted as a ''people's court'' and citizens should not be afraid of going to courts or view it as the last resort. Justice Chandrachud, while speaking at the inauguration of the Constitution Day celebrations at the apex court, said in the last seven decades, the Supreme Court has acted as a people's court and thousands of citizens have approached its doors with the faith that they will get justice through this institution. He said just as the Constitution allows us to resolve political differences through established democratic institutions and processes, the court system helps in resolving many disagreements through established principles and processes.

Justice Chandrachud said the apex court was perhaps the only court in the world where any citizen could set in motion the constitutional machinery simply by writing to the CJI. He said apart from ensuring that citizens get justice through its judgements, the apex court has been making continuous endeavours to ensure that its administrative processes are citizen-centric so that people feel the connection with the working of courts.

The CJI said citizens come to court to seek protection of their liberty, accountability against unlawful arrests, protection of rights of bonded labourers, tribals seeking protection of their homelands, prevention of social evils such as manual scavenging and even hoping for interference to get clean air. He stressed that every case in every court in the country is an extension of constitutional governance and these cases are not just citations or statistics for the court.

“These cases resemble the expectations of people from the Supreme Court as well as the court's commitment to deliver justice to the citizens,'' said CJI. President Droupadi Murmu delivered the inaugural address at the programme, which was also attended by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, apex court judges Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Attorney General R Venkataramani and others.

Citing steps taken for dealing with the issue of overcrowding in prisons, which was flagged by the President on Constitution Day last year, Justice Chandrachud said the goal behind these initiatives was to ensure that people feel that the constitutional institution of the judiciary was working for them. The CJI stressed that individuals should not be afraid of going to court or view it as the last resort. “Rather I hope that by our efforts, citizens of every class, caste and creed can repose trust in our court system and view it as a fair and effective forum to enforce the rights,'' he added.

He said as of November 25, 2023, the apex court has delivered 36,068 judgments in English from the date of its first sitting, but proceedings in our district courts are not conducted in English. He said, “Today, we are launching the e-SCR in Hindi as 21,388 judgments have been translated into Hindi, vetted and uploaded on the e-SCR portal”.

The CJI said version 2.0 of the Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) application would be launched on Sunday and it ensures that the release order of a person was immediately transferred to jail authorities, district courts and High Courts via electronic means so that person was released on time.