Allahabad High Court's 150th anniversary: PM Modi calls it 'Tirtha Kshetra' of judiciary; advocates use of IT for speedy 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.

Allahabad: Addressing a gathering on the occasion of Allahabad High Court's 150th anniversary on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the institution as the 'Tirtha Kshetra' and said that the use of IT in the judiciary would considerably help expedite delivery of justice.

"The government wants that the judicial system of our country makes full use of information and communication technology. This should be given priority," Modi said, adding, "This can help save a lot of time and money."

He said that his government would extend all necessary support to the judiciary in order to help reduce pendency of cases in courts.

He also encouraged the use of video conferencing facility in courts for the undertrials, witnesses and officials which he said would help prevent wastage of time and money.

"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," the prime minister said.

"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 PM 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.

The CJI asked the judges to consider sitting in courts for five days during vacation to clear at least 10 cases each day and bring down the pendency.

"This way thousands of small matters like matrimonial disputes and mediation cases can be settled and arrears of cases brought down" he said and referred to a system of court management under which pendency of cases in Malaysia had been brought down to one-fifth.

He said three constitution benches will sit during this summer vacation to help reduce the arrears in the apex court.

Justice Khehar recalled the contribution of legal luminaries like Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Tej Bahadur Sapru and KN Hegde.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the gathering the government is committed to complete independence of the judiciary.

He asked lawyers to volunteer to help the poor get access to justice and highlighted the steps being taken by the Centre to reduce pendency, including minimising litigation by the State and meeting the long-standing demand of filling up vacant posts of judges.

"The Prime Minister has said that the government is committed to independence of the judiciary and that it should be complete," he said.

He said that to reduce arrears in courts, the government is setting up 'sahayata kendras' (facilitation centres) that would be devoted to speedy disposal of such cases as may have been pending for 10 years or more.

"A pilot project for legal aid was being launched for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," the minister said.

Prasad exhorted those involved in the legal profession to help the government in achieving its objectives by devoting their time and energy in cases "that may be pro bono and may not bring publicity".

The minister said that the process is on for finalising a national litigation policy.

"Already, I have at the direction of the Prime Minister written to chief ministers of states and my colleagues in the Union Council of Ministers to ensure that the number of cases filed by the government is reduced as far as possible.

"There has been a long-standing demand for filling up of vacant posts of judges. That too will be taken care of," Prasad said.

There are nearly 5,000 vacancies in the subordinate judiciary and the pendency. There are as many as 2.7 crore cases pending in subordinate courts, and 38.7 lakh cases pending in the high courts.

Hailing the contribution of advocates in the freedom struggle, the Minister said luminaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Rajendra Prasad had set an ideal of "kaabil vakil, tyaagi neta" (competent lawyer, sacrificing leader) which all ought to follow.

Prasad also recalled landmark judgements passed by the Allahabad High Court, including the one whereby the election of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was set aside.

Another key verdict way back in 1901 had held that a widow was entitled to receive maintenance, he said.

"I was myself privileged to be a counsel in yet another landmark case - the Ayodhya title dispute. I do not wish to speak about this case much since an appeal challenging the High Court order is pending before the Supreme Court," he added.

In his speech, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lauded the role played by the judicial system in maintaining the balance of power.

The gathering was also attended by UP and West Bengal governors Ram Naik and K N Tripathi, Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and members from the legal fraternity.

(With PTI inputs)