Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court, highlighting that more than 65% of India's population is below 35 years old, said on Sunday that the young citizens yearn for good governance."In my opinion, the young citizens, the torchbearers, seek more than just basic norms and rights. They yearn for good governance," Justice Khanna said speaking at the the concluding ceremony of...
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court, highlighting that more than 65% of India's population is below 35 years old, said on Sunday that the young citizens yearn for good governance.
"In my opinion, the young citizens, the torchbearers, seek more than just basic norms and rights. They yearn for good governance," Justice Khanna said speaking at the the concluding ceremony of Rajasthan High Court's platinum jubilee celebrations in Jodhpur.
Explaining the difference between good governance and governance, Justice Khanna said that governance is about the process of governing the institutions through which issues of common concern are decided upon and regulated. Good governance adds a normative and an evaluative attribute to the process of governing.
He referred to the report of the United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia Pacific to describe the eight characteristics of good governance. They are: 1) participatory, 2) Consensus-oriented, 3)Accountable, 4)Transparent, 5). Responsive, 6.) Effective & Efficient, 7.) Equitable and Inclusive, 8.) Follow the rules of law.
To this, Justice Khanna added one more attribute: 'Ability to take hard and right decisions.'
The difference between governance and good governance lies in the quality of the outcome of governance. Good governance minimises and eradicates corruption. All branches of government and the judiciary share this common mission of providing good governance. This objective is achieved by enacting good and compliable laws, their effective execution and an impartial and independent judiciary, which interprets the law as the will of the people and adjudicates the disputes," Justice Khanna said.
He opined that the judiciary must also be tested based on the parameters of good governance. "Judges must mitigate against the impact of personal biases and insulate decisions from any undue collective and external pressures," Justice Khanna said while asserting that the judiciary must be citizen-friendly, accessible and litigant-driven. He underscored the importance of the court process being accessible and inexpensive.
In this context, he spoke about some of the achievements of the National Legal Services Authority, of which he is the Executive Chairman. He said that NALSA is providing the largest legal coverage in the world, as nearly 80% of our 1.4 billion population is eligible for free legal aid. The number of legal aid beneficiaries has quadrupled in 7 years from 2015-2022. In 2015, it was 3 lakhs and in 2022 it was 12 lakhs in 2022. Today, it must be around 17 lakhs, he said.
He added that NALSA has about 49,000 advocates enrolled in its panel and has set up over 11,000 legal aid clinics, of which about 1000 are in prisons and about 400 are in juvenile homes.
Justice Khanna also commended the open-air system prevalent in the State of Rajasthan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava (Chief Justice of Rajasthan HC), and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also spoke at the event.