Need to get rid of culture of adjournment, President Murmu tells judges

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 1

Highlighting the problem of inordinate delay in justice delivery, President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday urged judges to get rid of the “culture of adjournments” to ensure speedy justice, particularly in rape cases.

Addressing the valedictory session of the two-day National Conference of District Judiciary here, the President said, “When court decisions in a heinous crime such as rape come after a generation has passed, the common man feels that the judicial process lacks sensitivity.”

“It’s a sad aspect of our social life that, in some cases, resourceful people continue to roam around fearlessly and freely even after committing crimes while the victims of their crimes live in fear as if those helpless people have committed some crime,” she said.

“The condition of women victims is even worse because often people in the society don’t support them,” she lamented as CJI DY Chandrachud, Supreme Court judges, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, high court chief justices, 800 district court judges and several lawyers heard her in rapt attention.

The President had recently expressed her deep anguish, dismay and outrage over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata and urged the society to confront the pervasive violence against women with renewed urgency. She had said that “no civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities”.

Describing the pendency of cases as a big challenge, the President said all possible efforts needed to be made to change the “culture of adjournments” which caused unimaginable miseries to poor litigants.

“We know and hear about white coat hypertension. Many people get high blood pressure in a hospital environment. Similarly, I think, the common man gets high blood pressure when he visits courts. This can perhaps be termed as “black coat syndrome”, she said, amid clapping from judges.

“The poor people from villages are afraid to go to court. They become a participant in the justice process of the court only under great compulsion. Often they tolerate injustice silently because they feel that fighting for justice can make their lives more miserable. For them, going away from the village to the court even once becomes a cause of great mental and financial pressure.

In such a situation, many people cannot even imagine the pain that poor people experience due to the culture of adjournment. Every possible measure should be taken to change this situation,” she said.

Listing out challenges faced by the judiciary, including those relating to evidence and witnesses, she said it required efforts on the part of all stakeholders and called upon the judiciary, government and police administration to work in close coordination to find out their solutions.

Noting that the faith and reverence towards justice has been a part of our tradition and people considered every judge as God, Murmu said, “Every judge and judicial officer of our country has the moral responsibility to respect dharma, truth and justice.

“At the district level, this moral responsibility is the lighthouse of the judiciary. The district-level courts determine the image of the judiciary in the minds of crores of citizens. Therefore, providing justice to the people through the district courts with sensitivity and promptness and at a low cost is the basis of the success of our judiciary,” the President said.

She also released a flag and insignia of the Supreme Court on completion of 75 years of its establishment.