Pitching for the use of local languages in courts, PM Narendra Modi today said it would enhance people’s faith in the judicial system and ensure social justice, Trend reports citing The Tribune.
“Even today, the proceedings of the Supreme Court and high courts in our country are conducted in English. For a large section of the population, it’s difficult to understand the judicial proceedings and the judgments. We need to promote local languages in courts as it will enhance people’s faith in the judicial system and they will feel connected with it,” the PM said. Addressing the 39th Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices, Modi wondered why technical and medical education was not available in the mother tongue of students.
“Our children who go abroad learn the language of their host country and then complete their medical education. We can do that here,” he said at the conference being held after six years.
The PM appreciated the efforts of some state governments for having taken initiatives to offer technical and medical education in local languages. He said a group was looking into making laws in two formats — one in legal language and the other in simple language that can be understood by the common man. He said the practice was already being followed in several countries and both formats were considered legally acceptable. Earlier, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana also emphasised the need to introduce local languages in courts. He said, “In our country, while the role of the judiciary is that of the guardian of the Constitution, the legislature represents the aspirations of citizens. I believe this confluence and balance of these two branches of the Constitution will prepare the roadmap for an effective and time-bound judicial system in the country.”
“Pendency is often blamed on the judiciary. Due to the paucity of time, I cannot explain the same in detail. But a keen look at the websites of the courts will give you an idea about the huge workload on judges. It’s a well acknowledged fact that the governments are the biggest litigants accounting for nearly 50 per cent of the cases,” the CJI said.
The PM appealed to CMs and chief justices of high courts to give priority to cases related to undertrial prisoners languishing in jails.