 "75th anniversary of SC: Modernising laws to strengthen India, says PM Modi")
The government was modernising laws to suit the present context and the legislation will further strengthen tomorrow’s India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the diamond jubilee celebration of the Supreme Court on Sunday. Modi also stressed that Indian citizens had a right to “ease of justice” and the apex court was the primary medium to ensure that.
Pointing to accessibility of justice, he recalled saying earlier that there was a need to give orders in simple languages. “Justice needs to be seen to be done. Breaking from our colonial past, our government has passed the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023,” he said, referring to the three new criminal justice laws.
“It is important to ensure that the transition to the new laws from the ones dating back to hundreds of years is smooth. In this regard, we have already started training and capacity building work for government employees," the PM said, while urging the Supreme Court to work towards building the capacity of other stakeholders.
He also stated that a strong judiciary will serve as the foundation for an evolved India and emphasised that the Jan Vishwas Bill was a step taken to reduce unnecessary burden on the judiciary. “An empowered judicial system is a part of ‘Viksit Bharat’. The government is working continuously and taking many decisions to form a trusted judicial system. The Jan Vishwas Bill is a step in this direction.”
The Bill proposes to amend 183 provisions to be decriminalised in 42 central Acts administered by 19 ministries/departments.
Inaugurating the diamond jubilee year of the Supreme Court — it had its first sitting on January 28, 1950 — Modi said a country’s justice system is guided by the Supreme Court. “It is for us to ensure that the accessibility to justice reaches every corner of this country. With this thought, the third phase of e-courts was approved. The sanctioned amount for the third phase is four times more than the second phase of e-courts.”
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He also talked about the central government’s commitment to improving the physical infrastructure of the judiciary, adding that since 2014 it had allocated more than Rs 7,000 crore for this purpose. In the Union Budget last year, the government had announced the allocation of Rs 7,000 crore for the third phase of the e-courts project — four times more than the previous allocation of Rs 1,670 crore.
Underlining the need for physical infrastructure for access to justice, he announced that a fund of Rs 800 crore had been approved for the expansion of the Supreme Court building and other facilities. “We have given our approval of Rs 800 crore for the expansion of the Supreme Court building. Now just hope that no one comes with a petition stating that it is useless spending like what happened during the Central Vista construction,” he said in a lighter vein.
The Prime Minister also launched several initiatives of the apex court such as the Digital Supreme Court Reports (Digi SCR), Digital Courts 2.0, and a new website for the court.
He expressed satisfaction that the translation of Supreme Court judgments into regional languages had started and hoped other courts in the country would follow suit.
On the growing importance of technology, he said, “Today how technology can be helpful in the ease of justice can be seen from this programme itself. My address right now is being translated and listened to by people with the aid of artificial intelligence. There can be a few hiccups at the start, but we can only imagine what great things technology can do. Similarly, our courts can use technology to make the lives of our citizens easier.”
Among other dignitaries present at the event were Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, judges of the Supreme Court, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Attorney General Venkatramani, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.