Weekend speeches intended to bring people closer to courts: CJI NV Ramana retires

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday demitted office after serving at the Supreme Court for more than 8 years..In his speech at the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), CJI Ramana responded to certain criticisms raised against him, while also shedding light on some of the highlights of his legal career..Specifically on the public speaking engagements he took up during his tenure at the helm, CJI Ramana said that the same were intended to bring courts closer to the people. "My experience so far has convinced me that in spite of fulfilling its Constitutional mandate, the judiciary does not find adequate reflections in the media, thereby depriving the people of knowledge about the courts and the Constitution. I felt it was my Constitutional duty to dispel these notions and bring the Court closer to the people, by way of generating awareness and building confidence among people about the judiciary. From what I get to hear from the common people during my visits, I am happy to note that people are able to engage with me on my subject in their language. I have actively tried to promote a sense of belongingness of the people with the system," he said..In his speech, he recalled his early days which began in a remote village called Ponnavaram in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh."You all know where I started. My life’s journey began in a remote village called Ponnavaram in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh where electricity, roads and basic amenities were not available. First time I saw electricity when I was 12 years old. I learnt the alphabets in English around the same time. We used to reach school walking on muddy roads, across the fields and crossing streams. With a lot of struggle, and hard work I have come up in life. For this, I thank my first gurus, that is, my parents and the teachers in various government schools," he reminisced.He also recounted how he suffered during the days of the Emergency, as a result of which he lost one academic year."I have also suffered on account of the Emergency excesses. In fact, I lost an academic year on this count. Confronting problems and resolving issues is not something new to me."He also did not fail to highlight the positive impact it had on him."This period enabled me to interact with persons of varying ideologies and broadened my horizons," he said..CJI Ramana also stressed on the need to Indianise the legal system, a point which he had stressed throughout his tenure as CJI. This had also come in for some flak in recent times, but the CJI clarified his thoughts on the same."When I say Indianisation, I mean the need to adapt to the practical realities of our society and localise our justice delivery system," he said.He said that he has also pushed for modernisation of judicial infrastructure as a means for providing access to justice. "I also tried to highlight the difference between the arrears and backlogs to put things in perspective. 'Arrears' refer to delays that are unwarranted. Every delay is not an arrear. Some cases of delay might be due to valid reasons. On the other hand, 'backlogs' refers to a situation where the number of cases instituted in a period is more than the number of cases disposed of in the same period," he said..[Read full speech]