The district judiciary is the pillar of the Indian judiciary as it is the district judicial officers who take up cases such as dowry deaths, murders and gang-rapes at the village level, said V. Gopala Gowda, judge, Supreme Court.
He was speaking at the valedictory of the two-day 17th Biennial State-level conference of Judicial Officers, organised by the Karnataka State Judicial Officers’ Association, here on Sunday.
The theme of the conference was ‘Dispensation of justice: qualitative, responsive and timely’.
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Stating that the district judicial officers were the “highest pedestal of judiciary,” he said they had the difficult task of framing the charge and putting the information in statements.
Mr. Gowda told judicial officers at the event, “You are masters of rendering justice to the common man across the country.”
Maintaining that judicial officers must keep in mind the concerns of the unprivileged, he said they should be accountable to society. In that context, he said that public interest litigation petitions played an important role in delivering justice to the people.
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As an example, he spoke about law and consumer rights and said that consumers paid monthly rental even if their landline phones provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) did not work for 10 days a month.
He said, “Should the consumer pay the monthly rental? Such cases should go to the consumer court. That is qualitative justice.”
He also said the reason for high pendency of cases in courts was not owing to judicial officers exclusively but owing to lack of infrastructure and stenographers.