CJI calls for strengthening public confidence in High Courts

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Chief Justice of India Surya Kant interacts with Supreme Court Judge S.V.N. Bhatti at the inauguration of the Kerala High Court’s platinum jubilee celebrations in Kochi on Sunday. Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal are seen. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin

Chief Justice of India Suyra Kant has called for measures to strengthen public confidence in High Courts as the natural and effective first forum for constitutional remedies.

He was inaugurating the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Kerala High Court here on November 1. There shall be introspection whether the High Courts can identify urgent matters more effectively and the listing procedures of cases made more transparent and predictable. The possibility of using technological assistance in prioritising cases shall be explored. A litigant’s access to timely justice shall not depend upon their ability to travel to the national capital, he suggested.

The High Courts shall continue to remain accessible to the vulnerable, attentive to the urgency of human suffering, and unwavering in its commitment to constitutional values, he said.

The High Courts are institutions of constitutional authority that remain closely connected to the everyday realities of the people. They understand the language of local grievances, the circumstances of regional communities, and the practical consequences of governmental action. A dispute concerning a fisherman’s livelihood along the Malabar coast, a farmer’s land in Wayanad, or the rights of a worker in Kochi may raise critical constitutional questions. These human dimensions are often best appreciated by the institution closest to those affected, he said.

Supreme Court Judge Sarasa Venkatanarayana Bhatti and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal were the guests of honour. Soumen Sen, Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, presided.

A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, judge, High Court of Kerala; Advocate General K. Jaju Babu; Additional Solicitor General of India P. Sreekumar and Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) President Peeyus A. Kottam spoke. 

P. Balakrishna Menon, who, at 100, is the Guinness world record holder for the longest career as a practising lawyer, was honoured and awarded a life membership to the KHCAA by Mr. Kant. He also launched a documentary on 200 years of Keralam’s judicial history.

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