President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday suggested that there should be a system in place for providing certified translated copies of High Court judgments in local or regional languages.
Inaugurating the valedictory function of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Kerala High Court, Mr. Kovind said the copies of the translated High Court judgment could be provided within 24 or 36 hours after the judgment is pronounced.
The President said that the High Courts delivered judgments in English, “but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgment may escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgment. This can add to time and cost.”
It is important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know, he added.
Mr. Kovind also said that delay in justice delivery is a pressing concern in the country.
“Often, those who suffer are among the poorest and the most underprivileged in our society. We must find mechanisms to ensure quick disposal of cases. We could all consider an approach that makes adjournments the exception in an emergency situation rather than a tactic to prolong court proceedings.”
Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, Union Minister for Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Naviniti Prasad Singh, and Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam also spoke.
