Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said on Friday that every Indian today has unlimited aspirations and dreams and it is the shared responsibility of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary to help him realize them.
Narendra Modi was addressing the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Guwahati High Court at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati.
He said he had referred to India’s aspirational society at his last Independence Day speech. If people had great ambitions, the judiciary as an empowered and sensitive pillar of the Indian democracy could help them succeed. The Constitution envisages a vibrant, strong and modern legal system.
Whether it was the government or the judiciary, every institution has a constitutional responsibility towards ease of living for the common man, the prime minister said.
He said the three limbs of the constitution had worked together in the abolition of outdated laws. “We repealed thousands of archaic laws, reduced compliances,” he pointed out, adding, about 2000 such laws and more than 40,000 compliances have been discontinued. This, along with decriminalisation of many provisions for business, had reduced the number of cases in courts.
Highlighting that technology has emerged as a powerful tool in achieving Ease of Living, the prime minister said the government is ensuring absolute utilisation of technology in every possible sector. Giving examples of DBT, Aadhaar and Digital India Mission, the prime minister said every scheme has become a medium of ensuring the rights of the poor.
He said the PM Swamitva Yojna had taken a huge lead when dealing with the issue of property rights, which had burdened the legal system. He pointed out that even developed nations had the problem of unclear property rights.
Drone mapping of more than one lakh villages in the country and property card distribution to lakhs of citizens were already complete and this would result in a decline in property-related cases and ease the lives of citizens, he said.
The prime minister felt that there was unlimited scope for technology to modernize the justice delivery system in the country. Praising the work of the Supreme Court’s e-committee, he said the gathering about phase three of the e-court mission as announced in this year’s budget. “We should also try to increase efforts to improve the ease of justice for the common citizen through AI,” he added.
Talking about the Alternative Dispute Resolution System, the prime minister touched upon the rich local traditional alternative dispute resolution mechanism of the North East. He praised the publication of six books by the high court on customary laws.
The Prime Minister said that a critical part of ease of justice is correct knowledge and understanding among the citizens about laws of the country as it enhances citizen trust in the country and its systems.
He said efforts are on to draft laws in simple language and this approach will be greatly helpful for the courts of the country. The Prime Minister mentioned the BHASHINI portal which aims to help every citizen to access the Internet in their own language. He said that the courts also benefit from this.
The prime minister emphasised the need for the government and the judiciary to be sensitive towards those who have been incarcerated for petty crimes for years and do not have the resources or money. He also took note of those whose families were not ready to accept them after the legal processes had been completed.
The prime minister said this year’s Budget has a provision for financial assistance for such prisoners where financial aid will be handed over to the state by the Centre to help them in their release.
During the programme, the prime minister launched a mobile application ‘Assam Cop’ designed by Assam Police. The app will facilitate accused and vehicle searches from the database of the Crime & Criminal Network Tracking System (CCTNS) and the VAHAN national register.
Governor of Assam Gulab Chand Kataria; Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Justice Hrishikesh Roy of the Supreme Court, and Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court Sandeep Mehta were present on the occasion.