'Judiciary has a crucial role in deepening our democratic roots'

M. Venkaiah Naidu

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday stressed that judiciary has a crucial role to play in deepening our democratic roots and it could do so by ensuring speedy justice.

"Judiciary has a crucial role to play in deepening our democratic roots. It can do so by ensuring speedy justice, even-handed justice and justice that is perceived to be entirely fair. Justice delayed is, as they say, justice denied," Naidu said while addressing the gathering after inaugurating the new building for Allahabad High Court here.

Referring to over 3.35 lakh cases pending in last 10 years in the Allhabad High Court, he said, "I am happy to learn that in order to reduce pressure on courts and to reduce pendency, the court has encouraged mediation process and pre-litigation Lok Adalats.

"Results have been encouraging. Lok Adalats in 2016-17 alone could settle around 11 lakh cases involving around Rs 400 crore. Similarly 7,500 cases were settled through mediation," he said. He suggested the High Court should also make use of Gram Nyayalay scheme for rural areas as it would relieve farmers and villages of hardship and exorbitant cost of litigation.

Emphasising the use of the local language, the Vice President said, "I firmly believe that the language used in courts should be understood by the petitioners who are seeking justice." "The entire process should be in the state language so that the petitioners have the confidence that they will get a fair hearing and treatment," he said, adding that the Article 348 (2) of the Constitution provides for usage of official language of a state in the court.

"If you so decide, you must consider digitization in the Official language of the state for the benefit of litigants," Naidu said. The Vice President told the judges and members of the Bar Association that while our Constitution envisages independence of judiciary from the Executive, the Legislature and Judiciary should share healthy mutual respect and should complement each other.

He reminded the judges and members of the Bar Association of the crucial historical milestones witnessed by the Allahabad High Court, like the trial of the Chauri Chaura case, the Meerut Conspiracy case and the INA trials. The Vice President expressed his deep concern at the existence of a large number of unfilled vacancies in the judicial system and expressed hope that the efforts being made by the government to bridge the gap in human resources would bear fruits soon.

The Vice President also spoke about the rise in the number of cyber-crimes which have opened up a new dimension in jurisprudence. He also spoke about the need to implement Anti-Defection law, with sincerity and also fast-track disposal of election petitions.

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