SC working to ease legal processes to prevent citizens from languishing in jail: CJI Chandrachud

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Sunday that the Supreme Court is constantly working to ensure that legal processes become easier and simplified so that citizens do not languish in jails unnecessarily.

CJI said that last year, on Constitution Day, President Droupadi Murmu raised the concern of overcrowding of prisons and the incarceration of citizens from marginalized backgrounds.

“I want to assure you (President) that we are constantly working to ensure that legal processes become easier and simplified so that citizens don’t languish in jails unnecessarily,” he said.

Justice Chandrachud said version 2.0 of the Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) application would be launched Sunday and it ensures that judicial order of release of a person was immediately transferred to jail authorities, district courts and high courts via electronic means so that the person was released on time.

The CJI also reiterated that the Supreme Court has acted as a “people’s court” and citizens should not be afraid of going to courts or view it as the last resort.

He said just as the Constitution allows us to resolve political differences through established democratic institutions and processes, the courts system helps in resolving many disagreements through established principles and processes.

“In this way, every case in every court in the country is an extension of constitutional governance,” the CJI said while speaking at the inauguration of the Constitution Day celebrations at the apex court.

President Droupadi Murmu delivered the inaugural address at the programme, which was also attended by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and others.

In his address, the CJI said, “In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has acted as a people’s court. Thousands of citizens have approached its doors with the faith that they will get justice through this institution.”

He also emphasized that citizens approach the court to safeguard personal liberties, challenge unlawful arrests, protect the rights of bonded labourers, tribal communities seeking homeland protection, address social issues like manual scavenging, and even seek intervention for clean air.

“These cases are not just citations or statistics for the court. These cases resemble the expectations of people from the Supreme Court as well as the court’s own commitment to deliver justice to the citizens,” the CJI said.

‘Judiciary working for citizens’

Apart from ensuring that citizens get justice through its judgements, the apex court has been making continuous endeavours to ensure that its administrative processes were citizen-centric so that people feel the connection with the working of courts, he said.