New Delhi: In the two-day conference of the Chief Justices held in New Delhi on April 29-30, a resolution was passed to create a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority as a special purpose vehicle to address the issue of infrastructure in the judiciary. The conference was attended by the Chief Ministers of all the states and the Chief Justices of all the High Courts.
Speaking at a press conference after the conference, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said one of the resolutions passed during the conference was to create a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority. “Some of the chief ministers could not agree with the present setup. They were saying that the committee may be constituted at the state level, rather than the national level because the implementation as well execution of the works lies with the state government at the state level," Rijiju said.
He added: "I'm happy the CMs and Chief Justice have agreed that the body will be created at the state level with the involvement of the CMs and Chief Justices or their nominees. When the CMs and Chief Justices come together, many things can be settled," he said.
Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana said that in the two-day conference, the issue of appointment of judges, human resources and personnel policy, gap in funding among others were discussed. It was suggested that effective steps have to be taken for disposing of the cases that have been pending for more than 5 years, sanctioned strength in the judiciary has to be increased, time schedule has to be complied with, and retired judges of the subordinate courts have to be supported.
One of the major concerns raised by the Chief Justices of north eastern states was the connectivity issue in hilly areas. The CJI said that the Government of India and the state should provide adequate financial support and resources for the same. He also suggested adoption of artificial intelligence in the judiciary. Chief Ministers have also urged centre to allot funds as one time measure to deal with the infrastructure gap.
Talking about introduction of local languages, CJI said that such proposal has been rejected earlier because many judges are not fluent in languages and there is no software as well for translation of local language. For security of courts that was addressed by even the law minister in his morning speech, CJI said that two level security system that prevails in Jammu and Kashmir is being considered to implement in all the courts.
The 39th Chief Justices' conference was held in Delhi at Vigyan Bhawan after a gap of 6 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the conference.
Also read: Govt biggest litigant, accounts for 50% of cases: CJI Ramana
