Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday underlined the need for swift justice in cases involving crimes against women and said that it would give them greater assurance of their safety.

Modi also said the judiciary was considered a guardian of the Constitution, and that the Supreme Court and the judiciary lived up to the responsibility.

Addressing the inaugural session of a national conference of the district judiciary in the presence of Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud, Modi said the people of India had never shown any distrust of the Supreme Court or the judiciary.

Describing the imposition of the Emergency as a "dark" period, the prime minister said the judiciary played a key role in upholding fundamental rights.

On matters of national security, Modi said the judiciary protected national integrity by keeping national interests paramount.

Against the backdrop of the rape and murder of a doctor in Calcutta and the sexual assault on two kindergarten girls in Thane, he said atrocities against women and the safety of children were matters of grave concern for society.

"The faster justice is delivered in cases of atrocities against women, the greater assurance half of the population will have about their safety," the prime minister said.

Modi said there were several stringent laws to deal with crimes against women and there was a need to ensure better coordination among the criminal justice system to ensure swift justice.

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