India News | Union Law Minister Compliments Judiciary for Hearing Cases Digitally During Challenging Time
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday complimented the judiciary for hearing over 49 lakh cases digitally during the challenging times of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday complimented the judiciary for hearing over 49 lakh cases digitally during the challenging times of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
He said that over the period of time, country has faced several problems and challenges but the people have accepted the judgements delivered by courts.
“The country was in turmoil during many of these challenges but there was judiciary which gave the judgements which the entire country accepted, the people accepted and a constructive way out was found and therefore, today I always say why the court is important, why the Supreme Court is important,” he said while speaking at the Constitution Day celebration organised virtually by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
He said that courts are important not only as a “beacon of liberty” but also as an institution which the people of India trust and this element of trust is integral to a democratic tolerance.
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Prasad said, “I have always said that rights are important, duties are equally important and I would say one of the duties should be to respect the judiciary”.
He said that one can criticise the judgement but respecting the institution of judiciary is important.
Prasad, while saying that “digital interaction” has become the norm during the pandemic time, referred to statistics about number of cases heard digitally by courts and said that Supreme Court has either heard or disposed of close to 30,000 cases digitally.
“But in spite of all these challenges, let me today compliment the judiciary as a whole. I would wish to share some statistics. This is as of October 2020,” “The Supreme Court has heard and disposed of or in the process of hearing close to 30,000 cases digitally. The high courts of India have heard 13.74 lakh cases digitally and the district courts of India have heard 35.93 lakh digitally. This has been a digital profile of hearing of cases,” Prasad said.
He said that nine virtual courts have been set all over the country to hear traffic violation cases and they have disposed of 31 lakh cases and also raised fines.
Saluting the founding fathers for their extraordinary calibre and foresight, the Union Law Minister said they had decided that India would be a democracy and they gave the right of franchise to ordinary citizens.
They trusted the independence of judiciary to address the concerns and uphold the freedom of individuals, he said.
Prasad said whenever he has gone abroad in conferences, among the developing and African countries, he has seen great respect for Indian Constitution as well as for judgements of the courts, including the Supreme Court.
At the outset, the Union Law Minister said, “We are meeting in a very challenging time”.
“A physical interaction has been the norm but today digital interaction has become the norm,” he said.
Besides Prasad, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, several other judges of the apex court, Attorney General K K Venugopal, SCBA president Dushyant Dave and other lawyers were present during the virtual programme.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)