Make rules to implement judicial orders: President Murmu

Murmu, who inaugurated the new building of the Jharkhand High Court in state capital Ranchi, was addressing a gathering which included chief justice of India DY Chandrachud, union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Governor CP Radhakrishnan, chief minister Hemant Soren, besides serving and former judges of Jharkhand high court.

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday urged the Centre and the higher judiciary to chalk out ways and make rules to ensure “real justice” is granted to people as favourable judicial orders do not always guarantee their implementation and going in contempt for non-compliance can’t be the way out as the judicial proceedings are time-taking.

President Droupadi Murmu is received by Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan and chief minister Hemant Soren upon her arrival at Ranchi airport on Wednesday. (ANI)

Murmu, who inaugurated the new building of the Jharkhand High Court in state capital Ranchi, was addressing a gathering which included chief justice of India DY Chandrachud, union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Governor CP Radhakrishnan, chief minister Hemant Soren, besides serving and former judges of Jharkhand high court.

She also stressed assimilation of regional languages in the judicial system in order to make justice more accessible.

“The high courts and the Supreme Court pronounce several verdicts. The victorious goes home happy and dancing as getting judicial orders are a long-drawn battle of several years. However, their happiness is short-lived. I have had personal experience in my village when people would come with complaints that they did not get the desired justice,” said Murmu.

“Can filing a contempt case be the way out? People are worried because that could mean another round of judicial proceedings that could last several years. I don’t know how we can make that work and if we can make any rule for it. The CJI and the union law minister are here. It is your responsibility to see if we can make rules for ensuring real justice,” she said.

The President congratulated CJI Chandrachud for delivering his speech in Hindi. “I am myself speaking in English when I am pushing for regional languages. I congratulate the CJI for speaking in Hindi. I hope that would encourage other judges as well,” she said.

Citing the example of translation of around 6,000 Supreme Court verdicts in Hindi, CJI too laid stress on inclusion of regional languages, besides underlining the need to strengthen the lower judiciary in order to make the justice delivery system more inclusive and accessible.

“It’s the responsibility of the Supreme Court and high courts to strengthen the lower judiciary. We give a sense of subordination when it comes to district courts. But we need to treat the district courts as equal partners,” said Chandrachud.

Committing all required support to the judiciary, the union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said while several new initiatives are being undertaken, the country faces a two-pronged challenge in justice delivery — more usage of regional languages and access to justice.

“The President had earlier raised the concern about poor undertrials and inmates languishing in jails. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman this year made budgetary provisions to help the poor convicts pay their fines,” said Meghwal.

CM Soren bats for ST reservation in judicial service

Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Hemant Soren underlined the “negligible” presence of scheduled tribes (ST) in the higher judiciary and pushed for reservation for them in the superior judicial service.

“I want to bring into your notice the negligible representation of tribals in the superior judicial service in Jharkhand, which is a matter of concern. There is no provision of reservation in the recruitment process for this service. Since judges in the high court are appointed through this service, the condition in the high court remains same. Therefore, I would urge that reservation provision be made in the recruitment process for higher judiciary in this tribal-dominated state,” the chief minister said.

Underlining the cost of uplifting the infrastructure of the higher judiciary, Soren also urged the Centre to initiate a centrally-sponsored scheme for higher judiciary as it does for the subordinate judiciary.

“If we include the cost of land in making this new complex of the high court, it could add up to ₹1,000 crore (including the construction cost of around ₹600 crore). I urge the Centre to run a scheme for upliftment of infrastructure of higher judiciary as well,” Soren said.

The new high court building inaugurated on Wednesday has come up on a sprawling 165 acre plot. While the court complex has come up on 72 acres, the rest of the land would be used for construction of residence of the judicial officers. The new complex, which is a green building, boasts of 25 air-conditioned court rooms, around 540 chambers for senior advocates, a dedicated 2MW solar plant, parking space of around 2,000 cars, library with around 5 lakh books for the judges, besides dedicated water and sewage treatment plants.