Speech by Her Excellency the President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil at the Inauguration of the All India Seminar on Judicial Reforms

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to have this opportunity to share my thoughts with a distinguished gathering of legal stalwarts who have assembled to deliberate on how best to reform, and invigorate our judicial delivery system. I am confident that your introspective endeavours would generate a wealth of ideas on how to improve the administration of justice to render the greatest good for the greatest numbers, and for the deprived and indigent in the largest measure.

Let us pause for a moment and reflect on what constitutes the philosophy behind the judiciary and the expectations of our citizenry. The universal role of the judiciary is to be the ultimate arbiter of differences and dispenser of justice fairly, promptly and transparently. In the Indian context, the guide posts of judicial performance are enshrined in the Preamble, which anchors us to justice, equity, fair play and the rule of law. Broadly, the implications are that every individual is treated equally under the law; that the inviolable human dignity of each individual is protected and enforced by law; that justice is accessible to all and that the government itself is bound by law.

The common man holds the judiciary in exalted trust and reposes deep faith and confidence in it. The summum bonum of judiciary is to seek unalloyed truth and protect the truthful. The sagacity displayed by our erudite judges has endeared them to all law abiding citizens. Our judiciary has won international encomium for its unique jurisprudential contributions. It is therefore the sacred responsibility of every citizen, every judge and every lawyer to the country, that the lustre of judicial portals is not diminished, its pious reputation not tarnished and that judiciary as the bulwark of freedom, grows from strength to strength.

We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We must take stock of the challenges and structural weaknesses which beset our legal system impeding equitable access to prompt and quality justice. Judicial reforms occupy a salient place in Government's agenda. I emphasized this during my address to Parliament, when I said, "In the inclusive society that we aspire for, people must have confidence and access to a fair system of justice. Government has decided to set up a National Mission for the Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms..."

The justice delivery system has been afflicted by an explosion of litigation. Current figures reveal that the arrears in High Courts exceed 40 lakh cases, while in the Subordinate Courts, it surpasses 270 lakh. Now as the Chief Justice of India has talked about the difference between arrears and pendency in cases, I think we will have to review these figures! Delays render the common man's knock on the temple of justice a frustrating experience. Litigants are not able to lead normal lives being unsure of the verdict in their case. In criminal cases, delays compel under trials to suffer imprisonment for an agonizingly longer time than what the law prescribes.

I am happy to learn that the National Mission is endeavouring to implement an Action Plan to reduce pendency of cases from 15 years to 3 years by 2012. The recommendation of the 13th Finance Commission granting Rs. 5,000 crore to State Governments to mitigate case arrears has been accepted by the Centre. Now, the State Governments together with the Bar and the Bench must find innovative methods to liquidate backlogs in a time bound manner. Government agencies being one of the biggest litigants must exercise restraint from routinely instituting litigation and clogging the system.

Congestion of court cases has been compounded by shortage of judicial manpower and low judge to population ratio. We must explore betterment of this ratio, by augmenting the strength of the judiciary without compromising on quality. There is a need to act fast on other parameters. Advance action needs to be taken to fill up existing and prospective vacancies. Delay in the process of judicial appointments should be avoided in the face of the huge swell in the volume of litigation. Infrastructural improvement and court working conditions deserve prime attention. I understand that the Chief Justice of India is taking special interest for improving court infrastructure, and that a centrally sponsored scheme is already under implementation in this direction. Back office functions of courts, like the process serving agency, also need reform.

It is said that while a litigant has one life, litigation transcends generations. Towards curtailing waste of precious judicial time, we must re-engineer and simplify court procedures, which otherwise tend to make litigation unduly slow and protracted. Frequent demands and liberal grant of adjournments, filing of multiple suits and similar tactics make judicial productivity sluggish. Timely pronouncement of judgments and quick execution of decrees would be beneficial.

It is paradoxical that alongside docket explosion, we have the phenomena of docket exclusion. Litigation being expensive, approaching courts without legal aid is a daunting task for the poor and the vulnerable. The present legal aid support system and legal literacy measures need to be further strengthened, and the lawyer community must contribute in this direction. By your professional commitment, you can make justice the core of this country's soul and better the lives, particularly of the deprived and despondent. I urge the lawyer community to drive positive reform and quality in the profession and help in building a just and benevolent society. At the same time, lawyers investing their time and skills in legal aid and allied activities should get adequate and timely remuneration.

There cannot be better governance without better laws and there cannot be better laws if antiquated ones remain. Archaic laws and outdated administrative regulations must be scrutinized and if necessary scrapped or amended. Making the language of law simple can prevent unnecessary litigation. It is appreciable that the Supreme Court through the Indian Law Institute has embarked on a pilot project for preparing Restatements of Law on Legislative Privileges, Contempt of Court and PIL towards promoting simplification of law.

Technology can be a useful tool for managing complex information needs in court processes, facilitate savings in costs and time, improve accuracy of information and enhance access to justice. Docket management, legal research, conduct of trial including video-conferencing, e-filing of documents, on-line judgments, are some key court businesses which can be qualitatively transformed. The ICT enablement drive through the e-Courts project computerizing all district and subordinate courts, besides upgradation of the ICT infrastructure of the higher judiciary under the National E-Governance Plan are progressive steps.

We have to energize workable platforms to resolve disputes before they reach the Courts. Alternative Dispute Resolution including arbitration, conciliation, negotiation and mediation can decrease the cost and time of litigation, improve access to justice and preserve social relationships. Lok Adalats and Family Courts have helped in swiftly resolving disputes consensually. Fast Track Courts have become an effective medium for speedy disposal of long pending cases. With a view to bringing justice at reasonable cost to the doorstep of the people, particularly in the rural areas, the Gram Nyayalayas have become functional in a few States. Others should follow suit to improve access to justice. We need to seriously ponder setting up of other result oriented Special Courts.

The judiciary has generally maintained a high standard of conduct on and off the Bench and earned the reverence of our society. However, as our democracy is maturing, public scrutiny of all state institutions including the judiciary has begun witnessing marked ascendancy. Judicial accountability and judicial independence should coexist harmoniously. There can be informed discussion on ways and means of ensuring judicial accountability.

Having been associated in the past with the legal fraternity, I have tried to put across my thoughts with great hopes, that the deliberations to follow will positively contribute in meeting the challenges confronting our justice delivery system. Much intellectual churning has happened in the past also and it is time that the nuts and bolts of judicial reforms are firmed up and expeditiously acted upon. As Shri Harish Salve correctly spoke about human face to justice, I remember what Mahatma Gandhi had said about justice, "Even justice to be just has to be generous and generosity in order to justify itself has to be strictly just." I wish all success in your deliberations.

Thank You. 
Jai Hind!