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CJI: Reform laws to cut judicial interventions

Sep 25, 2021 11:55 PM IST

CJI Ramana was emphatic that laws must match with practical realities, and said it is the duty of the legislature and the executive to do the needful.

The judiciary will not have to step into the shoes of lawmakers only when the legislature revisits laws and reforms them to suit the needs of the time and people, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said on Saturday.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana.(AFP)
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana.(AFP)

CJI Ramana was emphatic that laws must match with practical realities, and said it is the duty of the legislature and the executive to do the needful.

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“The Legislature needs to revisit the laws and reform them to suit the needs of time and people. I emphasize, our laws must match with our practical realities. The executive has to match these efforts by way of simplifying the corresponding rules. Most importantly, the executive and the legislature should function in unison in realising the constitutional aspirations. It is only then that the Judiciary would not be compelled to step in as a lawmaker and would only be left with the duty of applying and interpreting the same,” CJI Ramana said.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new building of the Odisha State Legal Services Authority at Cuttack, justice Ramana said that the notion about courts making the law requires to be dispelled, but the executive and the legislature need to step up.

“At the end of the day, it is the harmonious functioning of the three organs of the State (legislature, executive and judiciary) that can remove the procedural barriers to justice,” emphasised justice Ramana, adding that the legal framework needs to be drastically altered to make the justice delivery mechanism people friendly.

There have been some recent instances when the tussle between the government and the Supreme Court over legislative exercise has come to fore. The top court had on September 7 and 15 lashed out at the Centre for re-enacting the very same provisions for the administration of tribunals that were struck down by the court in July. It had commented that the Union government has “no respect” for the judgments of the top court and is “bent upon not honouring” the orders of the Supreme Court.

Similarly, the Centre had in August 2018 brought a constitutional amendment to negate the Supreme Court ruling that had come in March that year that apparently diluted the rigours of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Meanwhile, at the event, the CJI also talked about the hurdles for a common man to access the justice delivery system, lamenting that even after 74 years of independence, traditional and agrarian societies that have been following customary ways of life, still feel hesitant to approach the courts.

“The practices, procedures, language and everything of our courts feels alien to them. Between the complex language of the acts and the process of justice delivery, the common man seems to lose control over the fate of his grievance. Often in this trajectory, the justice seeker feels like an outsider to the system,” he said.

Justice Ramana called it a “harsh reality” that often the legal system fails to take into consideration the social realities and implications and the system is designed in such a way that by the time all the facts and law are churned in the court of law, much gets lost in the process.

“People might be bringing their problems to the courts, but what remains at the end of a day is yet another ‘case’... Our constitutional aspirations shall never be achieved until the most vulnerable sections can enforce their rights,” said the CJI.

The CJI mentioned the important role that legal services institutions play and commended justice Uday U Lalit, executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), for putting the processes of providing legal aid and facilitating access to justice to the poor and marginalized and by increasing legal awareness in a “power-drive mode”.

“If we want to retain the faith of our people, we need to strengthen not only the judicial infrastructure, but we also need to boost our outreach programs as well... The power and strength of any justice delivery system is derived from the faith of the people in it. The Bar and Bench need to work in conjunction to affirm the faith that a citizen has in the justice delivery system,” said justice Ramana.

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