"Digital divide impacting functioning of judiciary:" CJI NV Ramana discusses way forward with all High Court Chief Justices

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana held a live interaction with Chief Justices of all High Courts to take stock of the issues being faced by judiciary considering the fact that all courts are now functioning via video conference due to COVID-19. .The interaction took place took place via virtual mode and was spread over four different sessions on June 1 and June 2, a press release issued in this regard said. . A general view that emerged at the meeting was that the digital divide is "impacting the functioning of the judiciary and better connectivity and network in districts, particularly in rural and tribal areas, would go a long way in enhancing the efficiency of the subordinate judiciary.".Some of the core issues which were discussed in the meeting were about the impact of pandemic on the functioning of judiciary, the measures taken by the judicial administration to ensure that the wheels of justice are on the move, the innovations to tackle the challenges thrown by the pandemic, vaccination drives to keep all the stakeholders and their families safe, issues of connectivity/network and challenges of judicial infrastructure, vacancies etc..CJI Ramana also took stock of the vacancies in High Courts and re-emphasized the need to fill up vacancies. .Vaccination drives for judges, court staff and lawyers also came up for discussion. It was noted that while vaccination drives in High Courts and district courts were, by and large, satisfactory, the lower courts are still awaiting their turn. One of the High Courts informed the CJI that it is contemplating mobile vaccination centers to make vaccines available in Sub-Division and Tehsil level courts..Regarding infrastructure, Chief Justices of Bombay High Court, Punjab and Haryana High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court requested the CJI’s intervention to remove impediments so as to enable to them to augment infrastructure..As per the press release, CJI expressed his desire to take forward the national plan for judicial infrastructure on priority, after incorporating inputs received from all the stakeholders. "Justice Ramana is of the firm belief that unless the infrastructure is strengthened it is unfair to expect the Courts, particularly the lower courts, to do miracles in increasing the pace of justice delivery. Both quality and quantity of justice delivery can be improved only when the support systems are strong enough to meet the challenges, the CJI observed," said the press statement.