Steps to be initiated for filling up 22% posts on district judiciary: CJI

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday said steps have to be initiated immediately as 22% of the posts in the district judiciary are still lying vacant.

Speaking at an event to lay the foundation stone of new High Court building complex at Srinagar, he said the district judiciary is the foundation of the judiciary and only if the foundation is strong, the entire system can flourish.

He also asked the district judiciary to remember that they are at the grassroots level, and are the first contact for the justice seeker with the judicial system as they have a direct link with the people.

Justice Ramana also said peace shall only prevail when people's dignity and rights are recognised and protected.

Maintaining that mere law was not enough to build tradition, it requires men of high ideals to infuse life in the skeleton of law, he said, "Denial of justice would ultimately lead to anarchy. Soon the institution of the judiciary would be destabilised as people will look for extrajudicial mechanisms."

In the speech, he quoted poets Ali Jawad Zaidi and Rifat Sarfarosh to reflect his sentiments.

"As poet Raja Basu, an admirer of Kashmir observed, Jammu and Kashmir is the confluence of three great religions -- Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. It is this confluence which is at the heart of our plurality which needs to be sustained and cherished," the CJI said.

He said that for the functioning of a healthy democracy, it is imperative that the people feel that their rights and dignity are protected and recognised, and there is expeditious adjudication of disputes.