‘Should not be afraid of…’: CJI Chandrachud's message to citizens on Constitution Day

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, while speaking on the occasion of Constitution Day on November 26, said the citizens should view the the Supreme Court as a “people's court” and must not be afraid to approach it.

The country's topmost judge said he wished that all citizens of the country could repose the same amount of trust in the legal system, and view the courts as a platform where their rights would be protected.

“Individuals should not be afraid of going to courts or view it as the last resort. Rather it is my hope that by our efforts, citizens of every class, caste and creed can repose trust in our court system and view it as a fair and effective forum to enforce the rights,” news agency PTI quoted the him as saying, while addressing an event at the apex court.

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CJI Chandrachud, who took over as the 50th chief justice of the country in November 2022, is scheduled to remain in office till he retires in November next year. During his tenure, he has stressed on making the legal system more people-centric. Earlier this month, he expressed concern over the repeated adjournment requests, saying that the Supreme Court cannot become a ‘tareekh pe tareekh’ court.

The CJI, during his address today, pointed out that litigations before the courts are essential to resolve disputes through established legal principles.

"Sometimes, we as a society may frown on litigation as a disreputable entanglement. But just as the Constitution allows us to resolve our political differences through established democratic institutions and processes, our court system helps resolve our many disagreements through established principles and processes," he said.

"In this way, every case in every court in the country is an extension of constitutional governance," he further added.

President Droupadi Murmu delivered the inaugural address at the programme, which was also attended by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and others.

In his address, the CJI said, "In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has acted as a people's court. Thousands of citizens have approached its doors with the faith that they will get justice through this institution."

He said citizens come to court to seek protection of their personal liberty, accountability against unlawful arrests, protection of rights of bonded labourers, tribals seeking protection of their homelands, prevention of social evils such as manual scavenging and even hoping for interference to get clean air.

"These cases are not just citation or statistics for the court. These cases resemble the expectations of people from the Supreme Court as well as the court's own commitment to deliver justice to the citizens," the CJI said.

Apart from ensuring that citizens get justice through its judgements, the apex court has been making continuous endeavours to ensure that its administrative processes were citizen centric so that people feel the connection with working of courts, he said.

(With PTI inputs)