After judicial process ends, must ensure people get justice: President Murmu

She said: “Many cases go to the high courts and then to the Supreme Court and people who get the verdicts in their favour rejoice thinking that even though there was a delay, they were not left in the dark. But their happiness is short-lived, as they don’t get that happiness (real justice) for which they have wasted so much time and money and spent sleepless nights waiting for. They say although they have won the case, they did not get justice.”

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Jharkhand High Court Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and several other SC and HC judges and legal luminaries were present at the event.

The President said that she relates to the people coming from the margins. She recounted her days as a member of a counselling centre when she would take stock of families which were embroiled in legal battles. “People should get justice in real terms and this is your (judiciary and government) responsibility. I don’t know whether there is any such provision as of now, if not, then there should be (to revisit the families and see whether the people are getting justice).”

She also emphasised how language is an important tool for access to justice, switching from English to Hindi during the speech. “Main CJI ko bhi thank you bolna chahti hoon ki wo Hindi mein bole, kyon ki phir sab unko follow karenge (I want to thank the CJI for speaking in Hindi, as others [judges] will follow him),” she said.

Earlier, CJI Chandrachud said thousands of citizens are in prison for ‘small crimes’ for months or years as they don’t have the means or literacy to get access to justice.
He added that the district and sessions courts in the country are often termed ‘subordinate judiciary’. It is only when the district courts will get equal treatment that there will be pride in their work, he said,

Speaking in Hindi, the CJI said: “It is in the interest of the nation and the state to maintain a goodwill between the social justice and justice system. The goal of the judicial system is to provide justice to the common citizen and in this process litigants should get certain things: information on the cases, on time hearings, quick handover of the case documents, clean water and food as well as separate toilets for women. However, there are many courts where there are no toilets for women. We have to ask ourselves hard questions… How can social justice reach the citizens if they are getting entangled in the search for justice? Even today backward castes, tribals lack land documents, we have to take care of all these things.”

Jharkhand Chief Minister Soren recalled President Murmu’s speech on Constitution Day on November 26, 2022, when she expressed her concern on the increasing number of undertrials lodged in jail. Soren said the large number of tribals, dalits, minorities and weaker sections in Jharkhand prisons for petty crimes is a matter of concern.

He added: “I would like to draw the attention to the negligible presence of people from tribal communities in the Superior Judicial Services, even in the state of Jharkhand. There is no provision of reservation in the appointment process of this service. Since it is from this service that the Judges of the High Courts are appointed and then they go on to the Supreme Courts. Therefore, I would like that a provision for reservation should be made in the appointment process of senior judicial service in this tribal-dominated state.”