Executive, legislature should function in unison in realising constitutional aspirations: CJI Ramanna

Underlining that “our Constitutional aspirations will never be achieved until the most vulnerable sections can enforce their rights,” Ramana drew attention towards the roles that the executive and the legislature can play in the process of making the justice delivery system more people-friendly.

He called for dispelling the notion that it is the court’s responsibility to make laws and emphasised that this is where the roles of the executive and the legislative assume significance. “The legislature needs to revisit the laws and reform them to suit the needs of people. I emphasise our laws must match with our practical realities. The executive has to match these efforts by simplifying the corresponding rules. Most importantly the executive and the legislature. Most importantly, the executive and the legislature should function in unison in realising the Constitutional aspirations,” Ramana said in his address.

“Generally, 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. At the end of the day, it is the harmonious functioning of the three organs of state that can remove procedural barriers to justice,” he said.

Ramana reiterated his call for the Indianisation of the justice delivery system, emphasising the twin challenges faced by the Indian Judicial system, and said, “Even after 74 years of independence traditional and agrarian societies, which have been following customary ways of life, still feel hesitant to approach the courts. The practices, procedures, language and everything of our court feels alien to them. Between the complex language of the acts and the justice delivery, the common man seems to lose control over the fate of his grievance. Often in this trajectory, a justice seeker feels like I am an outsider to this system.”

Calling it a harsh reality, Ramana said that often the legal system fails to take into consideration the social realities and their implications. “Sadly our 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,” Ramana said, adding that making the justice delivery system should be made people-friendly.

About the second challenge faced by the Indian Judicial system, Ramana said that people should be enabled to decode the justice delivery system by raising awareness. “The concept of access to justice in India is much broader than simply providing lawyers to present in court,” he said.

The CJI highlighted the importance of Legal Services Authorities, stating that they have become an integral part of the judicial administration, and the lack of infrastructure and funds result in the reduction of activities carried out by these institutions. He also announced that a country-wide, robust legal awareness mission will be launched in the coming week.