Highlighing major concerns over judicial infrastructurein the country, Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Saturday made someshocking revelations, including how almost 20 per cent of the judicial officersin the country don't even have proper courtrooms to sit.
Of the total sanctioned strength of 24,280 judicialofficers in India, there are only 20,143 court halls, including 620 rentedpremises, and 26 per cent of the court premises have no separate toilets forwomen and 16 per cent do not even toilets, while only 54 per cent courts havepurified drinking water facility.
In the computer-era, only 27 per cent of the courtroomshave computers on the judges' dais with video-conferencing facility, only 51per cent courts have a library, 32 per cent have a separate record room andonly 5 per cent have basic medical facilities, the CJI revealed.
"Good judicial infrastructure for courts in Indiahas always been an afterthought. It is because of this mindset that courts inIndian still operate from dilapidated structures making it difficult toeffectively perform their function," he said.
Inaugurating the Bombay High Court Aurangabad Bench'sAnnex Building's B and C Wings along with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray,Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and other dignitaries, CJI Ramana said goodjudicial infrastructure is important to improve access to justice and meet therising demands of the people who are more aware of their rights and developingeconomically, socially and culturally.
Citing a global research of 2018, he said that"failure to deliver timely justice can cost the country as much as 9 percent of the annual GDP" and without adequate infrastructure for courts,"we cannot aspire to fill this gap".
In his address, Thackeray said he would soon allot landfor the extension of the Bombay High Court and invited the CJI to come and performthe ground-breaking ceremony for it.
Stating that delivering justice is not the responsibilityof the courts along but all of us, he said the world's largest democracy hasbeen nurtured by the executive, judiciary, legislature, and the media.
"There are pressures on it but if these columnsweaken, they will collapse and it will be difficult to make them stand againa Ifeel the only solution is what I can do as the government to ensure speedyjustice," Thackeray pointed out.
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With the Law Minister also on the dais, CJI Ramana urgedhim to ensure a proposal to set up the National Judicial InfrastructureAuthority is taken up in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.
"I have sent the proposal. I am hoping for apositive response soon and the Union Law Minister will expedite theprocess," he said.