District Judiciary Not Subordinate, High Time To Do Away With British Era: CJI Chandrachud

New Delhi: Chief Justice Of India (CJI) Dr DY Chandrachud has said its high time we must do away with the British era of calling district judiciary as subordinate.

CJI DY Chandrachud was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 'National Conference on the District Judiciary' at the Supreme Court.

DY Chandrachud said district judiciary is the "backbone of the judiciary" and thus a crucial component of the rule of law and calling it subordinate must be stopped.

Referring to the increasing number of women joining the district judiciary in the past few years, he highlighted that judges, despite being professionals, are affected by their own "brush with reality" and their mental health may suffer as a consequence.'

Speaking at the 'National Conference of the District Judiciary', which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Justice Chandrachud said district judiciary is the first point of contact for a citizen in search of justice.

"The district judiciary is a crucial component of the rule of law," he said, adding, "Data on the NJDG (National Judicial Data Grid) reveals a basic truth - the district judiciary is not just the first but is also the final point of contact for citizens".

The CJI said the reasons may be numerous - many citizens are unable to afford legal representation, they have a lack of awareness about statutory rights, and there are geographical difficulties in physically accessing courts.

"The quality of our work and the conditions in which we provide justice to citizens determine whether they have confidence in us and is a test of our own accountability to society," he said.

"The district judiciary is therefore called upon to shoulder tremendous responsibility and is aptly described as the 'backbone of the judiciary'," Justice Chandrachud said, adding, "The spine is the core of the nervous system. To sustain the spine of the legal system, we must stop calling the district judiciary the 'subordinate' judiciary".

With inputs from PTI