CJI DY Chandrachud Announces Major Expansion Plans For Supreme Court : 27 New Court Rooms, Additional Facilities For Lawyers

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, speaking at the function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on the occasion of Independence day, announced major plans for expansion of the Supreme Court. He announced that the project is envisaged to be completed in two stages. The plan includes 27 new courtrooms and 4 registrar courtrooms and additional facilities for lawyers and litigants. “We need to overhaul our infrastructure on priority”, the CJI said.

The CJI also said that the proposal has been sent to the Centre and detailed plans for the project have been formulated.

“We have submitted our proposal to Central Government and the file is with the Department of Justice. Detailed plans have been drawn up including the budget. I'm sure it will receive the best attention from the Law Minster and the Department of Justice.” The CJI said.

CJI Chandrachud said that the project is envisaged to be completed in 2 phases. In the first phase, the museum and annexe building is proposed to be demolished to create room for 15 additional court rooms and other additional facilities such as a bar room for female lawyers.

“The museum and annexe building will be demolished to create 15 courtrooms, SCBA library, SCAORA meeting rooms, canteen for lawyers and litigants, womens’ bar room” the CJI explained in his address.

The second phase will include the addition for 12 extra court rooms, he explained:

“In the second phase some parts will be demolished to create 12 additional courtrooms, registrar courts, SCBA and SCAORA lounge.”

He also said that a proposal for providing 600 additional parking spaces for lawyers at the Supreme Court is underway.

The CJI stated that phase 3 of the ambitious e-courts project is also being implemented. The project has been granted a budget of 7,000 crores from the centre. The project aims to revolutionise the working of courts in India, by interlinking all courts across the country.

Explaining the need to focus on e-seva kendras, that assist lawyers and litigants to adapt to the newly introduced technological infrastructure of the courts, the CJI said that the e-courts committee is aware that every lawyer does not have easy access to internet services, laptops or computers. “We will not leave even the last person behind in our mission to incorporate technology.” he assured.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s independence day speech at Red Fort today lauding the Supreme Court for translating judgments into regional languages, the CJI explained plans for further expansion of the said mission.

“The Prime Minster is his speech today mentioned the efforts of Supreme Court to translate judgments in Indian languages. I would like elaborate on that, upto now 9,423 judgments have been translated in regional languages, 8977 judgments in Hindi and several other in other regional languages. We aim to translate all 35,000 judgments of the Supreme Court from its birth in all Indian languages. This will also facilitate use of regional language in courts.” he said.

Pointing out other recent initiatives of the Supreme Court, CJI spoke on the Su-swagatam initiative, which aims to address the issue of standing in long queues to enter the Court. The CJI also mentioned that defibrators have been made available in the Supreme Court to provide immediate support in case of a medical emergency.

The CJI also pointed out that the rate of disposal of cases has improved. Citing some recent figures from the Supreme Court he said “from March to June over 19,000 cases have been disposed.”

He also said that he is aware that verification of cases is taking time, and that he is working closely with the Supreme Court staff to improve the same. He is also in talks with IIT Madras, on whether Artificial Intelligence can be used to curtail the time required from filing till hearing, he said.

The CJI also spoke on the recent release of the sensitization model for the judiciary. Tomorrow, a handbook on combating gender stereotypes in judicial decision making is being released. This is to ensure we are aware and question our own biases, he explained.

The CJI appealed to the lawyers to address him for any grievances they may have:

“I can assure you that every complaint, each letter to me and even addressed to social media instead of me, is dealt with by me. But I request lawyers, if you have any grievance do not run outside the court, you have the head of the family sitting here to address it.” the CJI said.

The Chief Justice spoke on how the founding leaders of the country, set the national priorities and visualised the institutional apparatus to bring out social, political and economic change. To enable this change, the constitution institutionalised a model of governance, with the parliament, the executive and executive at its helm, he reflected. The legislature, executive and judiciary have been assigned the task of nation building, he said.

"If we glance at the last 76 years, we see that each institution has contributed to the strengthening of our nation's soul." the CJI said. 

However, other institutions such as the family, media, schools, university, bureaucracy, political parties, voluntary organisations also have an important role in bringing about change the CJI reminded.

“After 76 years, our tri colour flutters in the winds of liberty and equality. There have been times when the wind has stood still and there have been storms on the horizon. But the flag serves as a symbol of our collective heritage and guides us towards our future aspirations.” he said.

Highlighting the aspect of access to justice to each and every citizen of the country, the Chief Justice said no case is big or small for the court.  "The past 76 years suggests that the history of the Indian judiciary is the history of struggle of daily common people. No matter is big or small for the court. In seemingly small matters, matters of great constitutional importance emerge." he said. 

Addressing the legal community, the CJI also said that their conduct should inspire confidence in the judicial system, "Judges and lawyers should conduct themselves in a manner that inspires confidence about the independence and integrity of the legal process.", he said.

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