Revisit laws to suit needs of time, says Chief Justice of India NV Ramana

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

Maintaining that the “justice-seeker feels like an outsider to the system,” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday said the legal framework needed to be drastically altered to make the justice delivery mechanism people-friendly.

“Even after 74 years of Independence, traditional and agrarian societies, which have been following the customary ways of life, still feel hesitant to approach the courts. The practices, procedures, language and everything of our courts feel alien to them,” the CJI said during inauguration of the Odisha State Legal Service Authority building at Cuttack.

“The legislature needs to revisit the laws and reform them to suit the needs of time and people. I emphasise our laws must match with our practical realities,” he said.

“Between the complex language of the Acts and the process of justice delivery, the common man seems to lose control over the fate of his grievance. Often in this trajectory, the justice-seeker feels like an outsider to the system,” the CJI said.

“Although a harsh reality, often our legal system fails to take into consideration the social realities and implications. Sadly, our system is designed in such a way that by the time all facts and law are churned in the court of law, much gets lost in the process. People might be bringing their problems to the courts, but what remains at the end of a day is yet another ‘case’,” the CJI said.

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