Law can't be far from equity, says CJI Ramana; asks judges to be humane

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Friday asked judges of the district courts to be humane, create congenial environment for litigants and make court proceedings accessible by sensitising themselves with vulnerabilities of different parties.

"Always remember the human aspects of the dispute. Law cannot be far from equity. It is important to project the human face of the judiciary, whenever you have scope for invoking your discretion. Make the court proceedings accessible. Consider the socio-economic background, language, education, etc. of the parties involved and deal with them suitably," he told them.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Telengana State Judicial Officers Conference at Hyderabad, he said the district judiciary is the foundation of this institution. Only if the foundation is strong, the system will flourish. "It is for all of you to work in that direction and see that the flag of judiciary flies high," he added.

The CJI also informed he has taken initiative for hosting a joint conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers towards the end of this month to deal with judicial infrastructure and other issues.

Taking up the issue of increasing physical attacks on judges, he said, "I am doing my utmost to prevent such occurrences. Directions were issued to improve the security of judicial officials both inside and outside courtrooms."

Holding that a judge is judged not only by the quality of his judgements, but also by his character, transparency, and impeccable integrity, Justice Ramana pointed out in the last two years, everyone has suffered immensely due to pandemic. "We tried to minimise the loss of Court Hours by using modern technologies. With pandemic becoming less intense, the Constitutional Courts have been functioning with full potential," he said.

"I want you all to come out of the fear of pandemic. Please make sincere efforts to spare extra time for court, beyond regular court hours," he said, asking judges to take targeted action and effective case management and persuade the parties to choose ADR mechanisms whenever possible and enhance the usage of technology in case management system," he added.

In his speech, the CJI asked judges to sensitise themselves to different vulnerabilities of parties and treat everyone with respect. Minors, women, persons belong to the weaker sections of the society, persons with disabilities, etc., might all have different requirements, he said.

Maintaining that the role played by district court judges is highly significant in the constitutional scheme, Justice Ramana also asked them to apply their mind independently on the materials presented before them, saying the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code are not mere formalities as those are an important check on executive actions and represent substantive rights of the accused.

He also asked judges to keep themselves updated with numerous pronouncements daily on diverse subjects by the Supreme Court, High Courts, along with legislations, guidelines and circulars to apply them to cases to ensure justice.

"I also urge you all to keep abreast with the changes in other fields like science and technology. Very often, you might be confronted with novel cases relating to the same," he said.

Watch latest videos by DH here: