NEW DELHI: Stressing that the real strength of the judiciary lies in its accessibility to the common man, CJI D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday said those facing arbitrary arrest, threats of demolition or unlawful attachment of their properties must find succour in the judicial system.

Speaking at the I-Day function of SC Bar Association, he said courts provide a safe democratic space for individuals to seek protection of their lives and liberties. Though he didn’t specify any case, his remarks come in the backdrop of instances where bulldozers have brought down houses belonging to the accused or their families, after declaring them to be “illegal constructions”.

27 new SC courtrooms: CJI announces big infra upgrade
Pledging to dismantle all barriers to make justice more accessible, inclusive and affordable for citizens, CJI DY Chandrachud on Tuesday announced a slew of measures to overhaul judicial infrastructure, including construction of additional 27 courtrooms in the Supreme Court, use of artificial intelligence for pre-hearing proceedings and providing all apex court judgments in vernacular languages.
“We have a roadmap in place to make sure that the future of Indian judiciary is inclusive and accessible to the last person in the line,” he said.

Citing the PM’s appreciation on the SC’s initiative to provide judgments in regional languages, the CJI said, “I would like to further elaborate that up to now, 9,423 judgments of the Supreme Court have been translated in regional languages”. Efforts were being made to make available all 35,000 judgments of the apex court in all regional languages, he added.
Giving a blueprint of overhauling of judicial infrastructure, the CJI said the proposal for expansion of the SC complex had been sent to the Centre. In the first phase, the Supreme Court museum and annexe building are proposed to be demolished to create room for 15 additional court rooms and other additional facilities such as a bar room for women lawyers while in the second phase, 12 more courtrooms would be added.

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Supreme Court has been the vanguard of institutional governance: CJI DY Chandrachud

The CJI proposed to tap information technology and Artificial Intelligence for pre-hearing procedure to speed up the process. “We have to tap into the full potential of technology to overcome procedural barriers to justice,” he said, adding that the third phase of the ambitious e-courts project being implemented would revolutionise the working of judiciary by linking all the courts and digitising the records.
He further said that e-Seva Kendras would be set up to help litigants.
Watch CJI DY Chandrachud on 77th I-Day: ‘It is important for us to recognise the fact that the Supreme Court…’