"Inclusive Growth Needs Inclusive Access To Legal Aid": Chief Justice

Chief Justice NV Ramana spoke about the impact of COVID-19 on the judiciary, saying it had created problems like piling up of cases and more vacancies in courts

The lack of easily available legal aid "supresses the full potential of the individual", Chief Justice NV Ramana said Saturday, as he addressed an event to increase legal awareness across the country and called on the government to guarantee equal access to justice for all members of society.

The Chief Justice underlined the importance of "inclusive access to legal services" in delivering 'inclusive growth' and said issues like lack of (or poor) wages and uncertainty over the next meal were barriers affecting delivery of justice to crores of India's poorest people.

He also stressed the importance of a judiciary functioning at full strength, particularly to offset cases that have piled up as a result of the pandemic; he said "we have tried to ensure faster justice".

On that note, he thanked the government for the "speedy approval" of nine Supreme Court judges and said he had been assured by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who was present at the event (as was President Ram Nath Kovind), that other approvals would "come in one or two days".