Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Saturday said "camouflaging" the pressing concerns of the judiciary would cripple the justice delivery system and discussions are necessary to serve people better.
Justice Ramana was addressing the first All India District Legal Services Authorities Meet here in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the judiciary to speed up the release of undertrials languishing in jails awaiting legal aid.
"Wherever I go, I always attempt to project the achievements of the Indian judiciary in winning the trust and faith of the people. But if we intend to serve the people better, we need to flag the issues which hinder our functioning.
"There is no meaning in camouflaging or hiding the problems. If we don't discuss these issues, if matters of pressing concern are not addressed, then the system will cripple," the CJI said.
The CJI said discussions, debates before deciding were necessary facets to achieve the constitutional mandate of social justice.
"I fear, we may be unable to fulfill our constitutional mandate of social justice. I urge you therefore, to DISCUSS, DEBATE AND DECIDE! This is the principle I have been following all through. I know, the challenges before you are enormous," Justice Ramana told the participants of the two-day-long meeting of the All India District Legal Services Authorities.
He also referred to the issue of "effective representation before judicial forums" of poor and deserving undertrials and said, "We need sincere and dedicated jail visiting advocates. Jail visiting advocates can later become the legal aid authorised defence counsels."
He called upon law students to consider legal aid service as a "golden opportunity to interact with their first ever clients and make a substantial difference in their lives. This service to society will shape your values and ground you to existing social realities".
The two-day meet, organised by NALSA, is being attended by over 1200 delegates across the nation including the principal district and sessions judge of all the judicial districts and ex officio chairpersons of DLSAs and would discuss the implementation of the unified business process for providing effective legal aid to marginalised and poor.
