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, 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.
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 a judge not to be affected by the actual face of suffering that each of us encounters every day – a family which is coming face to face with a gruesome crime, an undertrial who is languishing for years or the children in a parental matrimonial dispute. Judges, despite being professionals, are affected by their brush with reality. Their mental health may suffer as a consequence.
This aspect is of great consequence, but it unfortunately does not receive the attention that it merits, the CJI said. “As a step towards a more open discussion on the topic, the third session today is on judicial wellness, with a focus on holistic wellness, stress management, mental health, and quality of life. I hope that the discussion will bring to your attention practices which not only enhance your ability to discharge your duties effectively but enrich your lives,” he said. “Each case has the potential to make us more sensitive to the human condition and the human story behind the case. This, in turn, enables us to practice judging with empathy and compassion,” he noted. Besides, the judicial academies conduct training programmes on a variety of topics, including newly enacted laws, to ensure skill upgradation. Justice Chandrachud said, “I encourage you to make use of these opportunities where highly skilled trainers are invited to share their expertise. Judges can keep up with evolving times by updating themselves with new law and changing societal conditions. Society changes with the passage of time and while judges are required to be islands, standing apart from others in society, they must still be aware of the world around them. This is indispensable in ensuring that justice is delivered in each case.” The CJI said that the courts in India have adopted the technology for legal system and the concerns of the demographic shift in the judiciary have also been addressed. In 2023-24, 46.48 crore pages of court records have been scanned or digitised and 714 district court websites have been hosted on the S3waaS of the Government of India.
The National Judicial Data Grid, managed by the e-Committee in conjunction with the National Informatics Centre, is a mine of data not only for lawyers but also for citizens. It reflects real time data of over 4 crore cases across the district courts and the High Courts. Nine hundred and seventy e-Sewa Kendras are fully functional in district court complexes and 27 are coming up and running in the premises of High Courts. E-Sewa Kendras assist lawyers and litigants with e-processes by providing assistance for e-filing, providing information regarding the status of the case, and so on. In so doing, these centres ensure that the digitisation of the court process does not disadvantage common citizens in any way. They bridge the digital divide where it exists and reflect the principle animating citizen-centric services – “no person will be left behind”, Justice Chandrachud said. The e-Courts Project has also been responsible for the computerisation of over 3,500 court complexes and more than 22,000 court rooms. The district judiciary has played a crucial role in deploying technology in day-to-day affairs, district courts in the country have heard 2.3 crore cases through video conferencing. The judgements of the Supreme Court are being translated in every language recognised by the Constitution. 73,000 translated judgments are in the public realm. The CJI further said, “Each one of us must be alive to the fact that merely purchasing technological devices is insufficient in the mission to ensure that courts are citizen-centric. Rather, we must embrace and implement technological processes by utilising the technology at our disposal and ensuring their full use in our work.” He said, “I speak from personal experience, when I say, that this will not only benefit citizens and other stakeholders in the legal system but will also ensure that our work as judges is conducted with greater efficiency. After the adoption of the ‘Parichay’ application at the Supreme Court, I no longer use a pen to sign or mark the administrative files which require my attention.” “I instead review and approve files using my computer. This has created a smoother workflow for the Registrars at the court as well,” Justice Chandrachud said.
Asserting the role of women in the legal system, the CJI said, ” I now turn to the data on the changing demography of the judiciary. An increasing number of women have been joining the district judiciary in the past few years. Women consisted of 58 per cent of the total recruitment for Civil Judges in Rajasthan in 2023. Sixty-six per centof the judicial officers appointed in Delhi in 2023 were women. In Uttar Pradesh, 54 per cent of the appointments for Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the batch of 2022 were women. In Kerala, 72 per cent of the total number of judicial officers are women. These are a few examples which paint the picture of a promising judiciary of the future. The second session of the conference will address gender dynamics in the judiciary as well as the need to ensure an inclusive workplace. The CJI said, “It is my sincere hope that this conference will elicit deep thought on how we can reshape our values and thought processes, put existing skills to use, learn new skills and improve the functioning of the district courts.’