New Delhi, Aug 31 (Agency) Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a postage stamp and coin to mark the 75 years of the establishment of the Supreme Court
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a postage stamp and coin to mark the 75 years of the establishment of the Supreme Court, at the two-day National Conference of the District Judiciary here on Saturday. Modi said that the use of technology will help reduce the burden on the judiciary and help to solve the issues of pendency in courts. The PM said that the crime against women and children has become an issue of grave concern in the country and appealed to the district court judges to decide these cases expeditiously. This will impart a sense of security to women in particular and society at large, he pointed out.
Speaking at the inaugural function, Chief Justice of India Dr D Y Chandrachud said the colonial mindset to call the district judiciary as subordinate has to be corrected now. The CJI said, “Seventy-five years after Independence, time has come for us to bury one more relic of the British era – the colonial mindset of subordination of the district judiciary, which is the first point of contact for a citizen in search of justice. “The district judiciary is a crucial component of the rule of law. The arc of pending cases is defined by a triangle or a pyramid, large at the base and tapering as we move upwards,” he noted. Justice Chandrachud said, “This is a first-of-its-kind conference which will facilitate a dialogue, understand the concerns of judges of the district courts and enable us to chart out a collective vision for the future of the Indian legal system.”
Data on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) reveals a basic truth – the district judiciary is not just the first but more often, the final point of contact for citizens. The reasons may be numerous – many citizens are unable to afford legal representation, they have a lack of awareness about statutory rights, and there are geographical difficulties in physically accessing courts, the CJI said. He said, “The quality of our work and the conditions in which we provide justice to citizens determines whether they have confidence in us and is a test of our accountability to society. The district judiciary is therefore called upon to shoulder tremendous responsibility and is aptly described as the ‘backbone of the judiciary’. The spine is the core of the nervous system. To sustain the spine of the legal system, we must stop calling the district judiciary the subordinate judiciary.
Others present at the ceremony were Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Bhushan R Gavai among other Supreme Court judges. Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, Chairperson of the Bar Council of India Manan Kumar Mishra, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Kapil Sibal, Chief Justices of the High Courts, Judges of the District Judiciary, were present at the conference being held at Mandapam Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Over 800 judges from the district judiciary from across India are attending this conference. This conference is a sequel to the All-India District Judges Conference, which was held at Kachchh in March 2024, where crucial issues concerning the district judiciary, the legal system and our roles within the framework of law and society were deliberated upon. The CJI said that 260 district judges had converged then in the stunningly beautiful environs of Kachchh. Lauding the role of District judges, Justice Chandrachud said that besides discharging the judicial function, judges from the district judiciary perform numerous functions. They are administrators of courts, mentors to young judges and communicators in society but above all, they are protectors of rights for those who possess them but do not know that they exist or are unable to enforce them. They oversee the development of infrastructure and engage in case management.
They work with paralegals, legal aid committees, and Lok Adalats in the course of their work. District judges, like judges at the High Courts and the Supreme Court, play a meaningful role in their interactions with members of the Bar. In the course of hearing a case, judges must provide valuable mentorship from the Bench to younger advocates who are learning the ropes. “Every judge can transform not only the lives of lawyers who appear in court but also the present and future of our society. But to do so, we must realise as judges, that we exist for reasons beyond our existence. The core of our function is to serve others. That can happen when we put ourselves in the place of those who come before us with real-life stories of suffering and injustice,” Justice Chandrachud said. A young district judge from a rural court recently shared her experiences. She said that while most members of the Bar were respectful, a few lawyers frequently addressed her disrespectfully and with condescension. The issue appeared to arise solely due to her age and gender. Such instances can be disheartening, the CJI said and added that the support of judges to the younger colleagues at such times would be invaluable and would strengthen the fabric of the judicial institution.
“These multifarious responsibilities bring extraordinary challenges. It is difficult for