The Hindu : National : “Make justice accessible to the poor”

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“Make justice accessible to the poor”

Staff Reporter

“Backlog of cases and high litigation costs plaguing the judicial system”

— PHOTO:PTI/ Shirish Shete

bounden duty: President Pratibha Patil receives a memento from Mumbai High Court Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar at the inauguration of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan in Mumbai on Saturday. Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir is at left.

MUMBAI: President Pratibha Patil said here on Saturday that backlog of cases and high cost of litigation were the two main concerns plaguing the judicial system. Citing the old maxim, ‘justice delayed is justice denied,’ she said innovative solutions were needed to urgently tackle the issue.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan, Ms. Patil said, “Cases have taken an inordinately long time to come to conclusion and the litigants have not been able to lead normal lives, unsure of the verdict in their case.”

She drove home the plight of the weaker sections for which justice proved to be a costly affair. This made the legal justice system inaccessible to them. “As part of the Right of Equality before law, it is our bounden duty to ensure that justice is accessible to all,” she said.

Ms. Patil suggested having mobile courts, particularly in remote areas, a wide network of legal assistance for the poor with the willing involvement of committed lawyers and predictable schedule of hearings. In terms of training and building a sound foundation, she put her faith in the lower courts where majority of the litigants go first.

For the academy, she spoke of the need to focus on laws on cyber crime, environment-related issues and intellectual property rights and gender sensitivity.

On the broader canvas of judicial reforms, Ms. Patil called for a revision of outdated legal codes and laws and “strengthening of the institutional aspects of the judiciary.”

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