<p>Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday called for increased use of digital technology to dispose of the enormous number of pending cases and make justice accessible to the poor. </p>.<p>Speaking at the 20th Biennial State-Level Conference of Judicial Officers, which kicked off here on Saturday, he reeled off statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau's 2020 report to show the huge backlog of cases in courts across Karnataka. </p>.<p>As of April 22, 2022, Justice Chandrachud said, 18.37 lakh cases were pending in district and taluk courts in Karnataka. Of them, 8.82 lakh are civil cases and 9.5 lakh are criminal cases. </p>.<p>According to him, extensive use of digital technology and infrastructure upgrades, especially in the lowest courts, can help reduce this burden. In particular, he called for more video hearings, electronic submission of court filings, digital signatures, etc. </p>.<p>On bail, Justice Chandrachud said it was a matter of concern that out of 4.66 lakh prisoners in the country, 3.24 lakh were undertrials. "In elementary cases where bail should be granted at district courts, bail is never granted...," he stated. </p>.<p>Quoting the NCRB report, he said Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims were overrepresented in the prisoner population. While Scheduled Castes are 16.66% of the country's population, their share among undertrials is 21%. The corresponding figures for STs and Muslims are 10.5% vs 8.6% and 18.7% vs 14.2%. "What's the purpose if jurisprudence only serves the cause of the rich? </p>.<p>Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called for building a "rewarding society, not a punishing society". </p>.<p>In separate remarks, Supreme Court judges Justice A S Bopanna, B V Nagarathna and Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, Ritu Raj Awasthi, called for using digitalized and modern tools for effective and timely delivery of justice. </p>.<p>In a lighter vein, Justice Bopanna said the novel coronavirus proved to be a "friendly virus" in accelerating the digitalisation of the judiciary. Justice Nagarathna called for strengthening the district judiciary.</p>.<p>Justice Awasthi asked judicial officers to never "compromise on judicial independence".</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here</strong></p>
<p>Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday called for increased use of digital technology to dispose of the enormous number of pending cases and make justice accessible to the poor. </p>.<p>Speaking at the 20th Biennial State-Level Conference of Judicial Officers, which kicked off here on Saturday, he reeled off statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau's 2020 report to show the huge backlog of cases in courts across Karnataka. </p>.<p>As of April 22, 2022, Justice Chandrachud said, 18.37 lakh cases were pending in district and taluk courts in Karnataka. Of them, 8.82 lakh are civil cases and 9.5 lakh are criminal cases. </p>.<p>According to him, extensive use of digital technology and infrastructure upgrades, especially in the lowest courts, can help reduce this burden. In particular, he called for more video hearings, electronic submission of court filings, digital signatures, etc. </p>.<p>On bail, Justice Chandrachud said it was a matter of concern that out of 4.66 lakh prisoners in the country, 3.24 lakh were undertrials. "In elementary cases where bail should be granted at district courts, bail is never granted...," he stated. </p>.<p>Quoting the NCRB report, he said Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims were overrepresented in the prisoner population. While Scheduled Castes are 16.66% of the country's population, their share among undertrials is 21%. The corresponding figures for STs and Muslims are 10.5% vs 8.6% and 18.7% vs 14.2%. "What's the purpose if jurisprudence only serves the cause of the rich? </p>.<p>Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai called for building a "rewarding society, not a punishing society". </p>.<p>In separate remarks, Supreme Court judges Justice A S Bopanna, B V Nagarathna and Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, Ritu Raj Awasthi, called for using digitalized and modern tools for effective and timely delivery of justice. </p>.<p>In a lighter vein, Justice Bopanna said the novel coronavirus proved to be a "friendly virus" in accelerating the digitalisation of the judiciary. Justice Nagarathna called for strengthening the district judiciary.</p>.<p>Justice Awasthi asked judicial officers to never "compromise on judicial independence".</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here</strong></p>
