Intellectuals should observe administration of justice in Goa under Uniform Civil Code: Chief Justice of India SA Bobde

There is a lot of academic talk about Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in present times and intellectuals who are engaged in such debates should go to Goa and observe administration of justice in the State under the UCC which is in force in the State, Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde said on Saturday. .CJI Bobde said that while serving as a Bombay High Court judge in Goa, he had the privilege of administering justice under the Goa Civil Code applicable in the State of Goa. "Goa has what the Constitutional framers envisaged for India, a Uniform Civil Code. It applies in marriage and succession governing all Goans irrespective of religious affiliation. I have heard a lot of academic talk about the Uniform Civil Code. I would request all those intellectuals to simply come here and watch the administration of justice to know what it turns out to be," the CJI said. .Goa is the only State in India which has a UCC thereby having uniform personal laws governing all citizens regardless of their religion. .Article 44 of the Constitution of India mandates that the government shall endevaour to secure for all citizens, a UCC throughout the territory of India. But the Article is not enforceable, since it only a Directive Principle of State Policy. .The CJI was speaking at the inaugural function of the new building of Bombay High Court at Goa. .During his inaugural address, Justice Bobde also expressed his delight at what could be the future building of High Court of Goa in Panjim, in the presence of the "future of the judiciary of the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court". .Considering it was Liberation Day of Goa, he also mentioned about the rich legacy of administration of justice in Goa which spanned over a period of more than four and a half centuries. .Justice Bobde stated that even though the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court was only thirty years old, the court not only maintained the highest traditions of judicial propriety but also made significant contribution to the development of law. There have been distinguished judges on this court, he added. .On the new building, he remarked that it was a sign of new times, similar to what happened after the liberation of Goa both institutionally and substantially. After liberation, the judicial system had to be transformed so that it become compatible with the Indian Constitution. A new cadre of judges and a new case law based system of legal reasoning replaced Portuguese with English as the language of the courts in the State. .He also adverted to the fact that before liberation, Goa had an inquisitorial system and now it was an adversarial system. "There are many fascinating arguments which are advanced and when the administrative court of Goa gives rise to a question of law, I found it very important to remember that the administrative court has its foundation in the civil law system and not in the adversarial system, which is vastly different in perspective," he said. .Another unique aspect to being a judge in Goa, he said, was that in India if there is any bench which gives you the variety of experiences and challenges as the Supreme Court, it is only the Constitution Bench in Goa. As a judge on the constitution Bench, a judge hears a variety of matters from land acquisition to criminal law appeals, to tax. "...there is no branch of law on which the learned members of the bar address us, and address us very ably," he remarked. .CJI also shared a quick fact that one of the most significant kingdoms to conquer Goa was the kingdom of Kadamba in which justice was administered on the basis of Hindu text. There was a Chief Justice who was called 'dharmadhyaksha'. So it was found that even in medieval times, society could not exist without law and Goa certainly did not..The CJI also stressed upon how Covid-19 impacted judicial functioning paving the way for modernising court rooms. Though building court rooms is necessary and important, there was very little importance on modernising court rooms. "In this regard, though the pandemic has posed a lot of problems to access to justice, it has paved the way for modernising the court rooms. And I see a trend of having smaller courtrooms in the future, because of the Ravi Shankar Prasad ministry. The e-filing and data which can be contained is going to take away the need for many storage rooms and many rooms which are necessary for storing paper," he said..He concluded his speech by proposing to the next Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Dipankar Datta and the Union Minister for Law Ravi Shankar Prasad to consider a new building for the Principal Bench of the Bombay High Court.