Not every case needs to be admitted to the court: Kiren Rijiju

Aurangabad, July 9:

“Around 4 crore cases pending in the court across the country in July 2021 when I took the charge as Law and Justice Minister. Today, the figure of pending cases is close to 5 crore. The number of cases is bound to increase unless some drastic steps are taken. Some move to the court for justice while others come to the court thinking that they can manipulate the court and misuse its precious time. Not every case needs to be admitted in the court,” said Kiren Rijiju, union Law and Justice Minister.

He was speaking as a chief guest at the first-ever convocation ceremony of Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) held at Rukhmini Hall of MGM University on Saturday. Kiren Rijiju said that there is a need to think about why every case should go through court.

“A judge in UK and US disposes of three to four cases daily while India, it is around 40 to 50 cases per day in the country. Despite this, judges are trolled for their judgment on social media without going into depth about the matter. After all, they are also human beings and some of them may do mistakes,” he said.

He said that he had visited London and met House of Lords, lawyers who have high respect for the Indian judiciary they refer to Supreme Court judgements many times.

He said that the judicial system would witness major changes in the coming days to bring transformation for the fast delivery of justice.

“The distance between justice and common man should be reduced to a maximum level,” he said.

The minister also asked the young graduates if they go to London, visit the room where Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar stayed around 100 years ago.

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Lawyers fees

The union Law and Justice Minister said that the lawyers' fees are becoming unaffordable to poor people. “Justice should not be denied just because a man cannot afford lawyers fees. I have seen in Delhi, that many lawyers' fees are unaffordable to common men. The lawyers' fees should be increased in such a way so that the common man can approach the court for justice,” he asserted.

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Mediation Bill likely to provide more jobs to lawyers

The minister said that the Mediation Bill- was introduced in the Rajya Sabha and he was sure that it would be passed in the coming Monsoon session. This will provide more job avenues for lawyers.

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Law courses to have new subjects

He said that subjects like blockchain, cyber security, robotics, artificial intelligence and bioethics in legal education as the subjects are being taught in some international universities. He said that the new subjects are likely to be introduced in law courses.

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In which row do you sit?

He informed the audience that when was pursuing an LLB course, his professor of Contract Law showed him three rows in the classrooms. “The professor told me that those who sit in the first row are intelligent and become prominent judges. The students who sit in the second row become prominent lawyers and earn good money. Those who sit in the last row become politicians (a minister like me). I appeal to you not to become a politician,” he said.

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I am confused about A’bad or Sambhajinagar

He said that he was confused to call the city Aurangabad or Sambhajinagar. “Since the Governor has not issued notification for renaming the city, he would call it Aurangabad