Union Minister of Law & Justice Kiren Rijiju with Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis during inaugural function of “e-Filing’ and and e-Court by The Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, in Mumbai, on May 2, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on May 2 said regional languages should be used in courts in every State.
He said, “In Maharashtra, Marathi should be used in courts. Narendra Modiji has suggested we give up the colonial ways. Why should we not use our own languages in our courts. Only five high courts have started using Hindi as the court language. We have the system of instant transcription and translation. We have technology, so why not use it.”
He added, “I know of lawyers who charge exorbitant amount of money only because they speak in English. Hindi is our national language, so we should speak and think in Hindi; I want the judiciary to also do that.”
Mr. Rijiju was talking at the event of distribution of e-filing and facility centre units for 384 Bar Associations. The Bombay High Court has decided to make e-filing compulsory for filing of all proceedings in court. Therefore, all e-filing units will be provided with a computer, scanner, and printer.
Answering questions by law students present at the event, Mr. Rijiju said, “We want more women in courts as lawyers and as judges. I will urge the Supreme Court Collegium to keep this in mind while making recommendations. We are opening ways of meditation and alternate means of dispute resolutions. We want India to become the hub of international arbitration.”
He said that the Narendra Modi government had repealed old 486 laws. “The government will discard all laws older than the year 1947,” he stated.
“Our profession is paper-heavy and once the case is over, the papers are redundant. Therefore e-filing is an initiative to reduce carbon footprint”Devidas PangamAdvocate-General of Goa
Talking about the role of the executive and the judiciary, he said, “From the time Narendra Modiji has come, I can say there is nothing that has happened which will undermine the independence and integrity of the judiciary.”
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that e-filing was a step in the right direction. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “This is a historic programme where we are making justice delivery system more accessible to everyone through technology. E-filing system will bring about a digital interface which does not discriminate amongst people as technology does not know the person’s caste or class.”
Time- effective
He added, “COVID 19 has made us realise the importance of technology. Today, we are rising to the occasion and making the justice delivery system cost and time-effective.”
Taking the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Sabka Vikas’, the initiative of E-filing centre had been inaugurated with the idea to help the poor and the downtrodden get justice, said Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh.
“Our profession is paper-heavy and once the case is over, the papers are redundant. Therefore e-filing is an initiative to reduce carbon footprint,” said Advocate-General of Goa, Devidas Pangam.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Narayan Rane; Minister of Tourism and Skill Development, M.P. Lodha; Minister of Education and Marathi language, Deepak Kesarkar; Minister of Industries, Uday Sawant; Advocate-General Birendra Saraf were also present at the event.
