Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud has said on the judicial side, the confidence and faith of citizens laid in the fierce sense of judicial independence and the legitimacy of judicial institution depended on the faith which was determined by one factor on whether the Judiciary became the first and last choice of access for the citizens in times of distress and need.
Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Gauhati High Court, which was established in 1948, the CJI said the relationship between the executive and the judiciary on the administrative side had to be marked with a robust constitutional statesmanship and all three organs such as the executive, the legislature and the judiciary were engaged in the common task of nation building.
He said the constitutional statesmanship, whether it was on the administrative or judicial side, required deliberation and dialogue, not public grandstanding.
Recalling the ‘outstanding’ work done by the Gauhati High Court during the emergency, CJI Chandrachud said that in ‘tough times, tough judges get going’.
He observed that when law was applied wisely and interpreted by judges who had a feel for social reality and were compassionate, then it took a step towards realising justice. However, when the law was wielded without principle, it could carry the burden of arbitrariness, he added.
Stressing on the importance of technology in justice dispensation, the CJI said that up to March 7 in 2023, the judiciary has sent 2.77 crore SMS to registered mobile phone users across India, which come down to 3.84 lakh per day.
He said the E-Taal website has recorded 326 crore transactions in 2022 and 18.5 crore in 2023 till March 13. Further, 2.37 crore automated emails were sent in to registered users in the justice delivery system in this year, up to March 13.
As per the CJI, these figures were unprecedented in contemporary society across the country.
Stating that technology has to be groomed for optimum use in the Indian social context, the CJI noted that the design and thinking must be user-centric, since the processes in the judicial system could yield results only if the structural design included everyone.
President Draupadi Murmu, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, State Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta, among others, attended the event.