President Ram Nath Kovind said that we will have to make efforts to provide quick, accessible and affordable justice to the people of the country. For this, we will have to work towards providing justice to people in their own dialect and language. Kovind was addressing the inaugural session of All India Judicial Academies' Directors Retreat organised at Manas Bhawan, Jabalpur on Saturday.
Those present on stage were Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Supreme Court Judge N.V. Ramanna, Ashok Bhushan, Hemant Gupta, Shripati Ravindra Bhat, Chief Justice of High Court Mohammad Rafiq and Administrative Judge Prakash Shrivastava.
President Ram Nath Kovind said that lower courts are integral part of the judicial system of the country. Our judicial academies are doing the important work of training the law students having theoretical knowledge as skilled and excellent judges. The need now is to expand the scope of the training of judges as well as other judicial officers to expeditiously settle pending lawsuits in the country’s courts, especially in district courts.
Kovind said "I am fortunate to get the opportunity to serve the country with all the three branches of the state, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. I am happy that on my suggestion, the Supreme Court, working in this direction, provided the translation of its decisions in nine Indian languages. Everyone associated with this effort deserves to be lauded."
He further said " I want all the High Courts to provide and publish certified translation of decisions related to important aspects of public life in the official language of their state, like the Supreme Court, so that the plaintiff-respondents should not be inconvenienced in understanding the decision due to the limitations of language." He said that the Preamble of the Constitution of India is considered the soul of our Constitution. It expresses the resolve to achieve four ideals - justice, freedom, equal opportunity and fraternity. Among them also, ‘justice’ has been mentioned first.
Kovind said that more than 18,000 courts have been computerized in the country. During the period of lockdown till January 2021, around 76 lakh cases were heard in virtual courts across the country. Also efforts like National Judicial Data Grid, Unique Identification Code and QR Code are being appreciated globally. While judicial-administration has become easier now, with the help of e-Adalat, video conferencing, e-processing, e-filing and e-seva centers, reduction in use of paper has made preservation of natural resources possible.
The President said " I am happy to be here with you on the holy land of Narmada, which is the lifeline of Western India and Madhya Pradesh and which has given special recognition to Jabalpur. Rishi Jabali’s Tapobhumi and witness to the valour of Rani Durgavati, Jabalpur region has natural wealth and historic and archaeological heritage of Bhedaghat and Dhuandhar. Jabalpur, which preserves and honours education, music and art, was honoured by Acharya Vinoba Bhave by naming it as ‘Sanskardhani’. The main branch of Madhya Pradesh High Court established in the year 1956, gave special recognition to Jabalpur. He said that this programme is a commendable effort to share the process to be adopted for continuous judicial training among all the state judicial academies of the country. "Therefore, I am delighted to have inaugurated this All India Conference of Directors of State Judicial Academies."