Published on : 10 Feb, 2023, 11:27 pm
If cases are kept pending for decades together, judges will have to accept the curses of citizens, outgoing Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Aravind Kumar said in his farewell speech.
Justice Kumar, who has been elevated to the Supreme Court, pointed out in his speech that the credit of a good judgment should not only go to the judge, but also to the advocates who argue the matter well.
“I tried my level best to discharge justice for the citizens and improve the judicial system. I believe, if cases are kept languishing for decades, not only we will have to take the curse of the litigant public, but also the justifiable criticism from the stakeholders,” he said.
Addressing the jam-packed court-hall, Justice Kumar said that during his tenure as Chief Justice the High Court Judges’ Committee had monitored old cases pending before district courts, and had even drawn a roadmap to dispose them as early as possible.
“A total of 175 cases pending for over 30 years were disposed of within 85 days. This was possible because of our continuous monitoring of the same,” he pointed out.
CJ Kumar further underscored that it is the bounden duty of all stakeholders, especially judges and lawyers, to keep in tune with the changing paradigms of dispute resolution.
“The public would like dispute resolution process to be easier, speedier and friendly. Stakeholders of commercial disputes would also expect prompt and efficient justice. The socially and economically downtrodden need protection of their rights and equality in treatment. Therefore, the Bar & the Bench should strive hard to be in tune with the socio-economic changes and render inexpensive, uniform and speedy justice, which is the need of the hour,” he opined.
Technological innovations have had a beneficial impact on India’s justice delivery system, and the key initiative has been the e-Courts project, which has been launched under the stewardship of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, he said.
“Emerging trends like Artificial Intelligence and virtual courts is the need of the hour. We need to prepare a roadmap for Online Dispute Resolution, which will break barriers for access to the justice delivery system. Even Artificial Intelligence will be helpful in justice delivery.”
Moreover, citizens too should perform their fundamental duties under the Constitution of India, he said in conclusion.
“These were the duties that were the codification of tasks which are integral to the Indian way of life. Rights flow from duties, when well performed. Let us pledge to perform our duties in an honest and sincere way and strive hard to take our nation to greater heights.”
