Modi advocates use of IT for speedy delivery of justice

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed the need for use of technology for speedy delivery of justice and asked startups to come up with innovations to aid the judicial system.

He also assured Chief Justice of India J. S. Khehar the government will make all efforts to back his resolve to reduce burden on the judiciary and bring down pendency of cases. "The government wants that the judicial system of our country makes full use of information and communication technology. This should be given priority," he said, adding, "This can help save a lot of time and money." 

Addressing a function to mark 150 years of the Allahabad High Court, Modi said, "I assure the chief justice that government will back his 'sankalp' (resolve) to bring down the burden on the judiciary and reduce pendency of cases." He also said video conferencing should be used for deposition made in courts by undertrials, witnesses and officials to prevent wastage of time and money.

"So many precious hours of officials, which should have been spent doing administrative tasks, gets used up in travelling to far-off places to appear in courts. This can be obviated through video-conferencing," he said.

The prime minister noted that security concerns associated with physical production of undertrials in courts could be addressed by use of video conferencing. Many unfortunate incidents have taken place in Uttar Pradesh during transportation of undertrials to courts but with Yogi Adityanath as chief minister, there may be a drop in such incidents, Modi remarked, evoking peals of laughter.

The PM recalled that during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls campaign he had said that he would abolish archaic laws if elected and the government has now done away with 1,200 redundant laws. "It is in the interest of justice that the people of the country are liberated from this huge, complicated tangle of laws," he said.

Quoting the address of the then president S. Radhakrishnan at the centenary celebrations of the high court five decades back, Modi said every law must ensure justice and welfare of all, not just the rich and this principle remains relevant.

Mahatma Gandhi always emphasised the need of judging every action on the touchstone of how it would affect the poorest of the poor and this should be the intention behind every law made, the prime minister said.

During his address, he appealed to the judiciary, government officials and the people to make 2022, the 75th year of Independence, a target year to take the country to greater heights. At the function, he paid tributes to the contributions of people with legal background including the Mahatma and Jawaharlal Nehru who had put the need for Independence in the mind and hearts of the people. Earlier addressing the gathering, Justice Khehar raised the issue of pendency of cases in courts including in the Supreme Court, and the shortage of judges, and said he was taking steps to reduce the burden on the judiciary.

Source: Timesofoman