 Summary of this article
- At NALSA’s 30th-year conference PM Modi declared ease of justice a prerequisite for social justice, accessible to every Indian regardless of wealth or status.
- Urged laws and judgments in local languages for better understanding and compliance; applauded Supreme Court’s translation of 80,000+ verdicts into 18 Indian languages.
- Highlighted 8 lakh cases resolved via legal-aid defence, e-courts, scrapping 1,500 outdated laws, decriminalising 3,400 provisions under Jan Vishwas Act, and new Mediation Act.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for making laws simpler and more comprehensible in everyday language, asserting that true social justice can only be achieved when justice reaches every citizen without barriers of money or social standing.
Speaking at the Supreme Court’s national conference on strengthening legal-aid delivery, organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to mark its 30th anniversary, Modi said: “Ease of justice is the foundation of social justice.”
He insisted that court orders and legal documents must be available in regional languages and praised the Supreme Court for translating over 80,000 judgments into 18 Indian languages. “I am confident this will extend to high courts and district courts too,” he added.
Addressing Chief Justice B R Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, and judges from across the country, Modi pointed out that most people approaching legal-aid bodies are poor, unrepresented, and often hopeless. “A poor person cannot secure justice if they don’t know their rights or feel intimidated by complex legal jargon,” he said.
He stressed that justice must be delivered in a language the recipient understands. “When citizens grasp the law in their mother tongue, compliance improves and litigation decreases,” the PM noted, urging lawmakers to keep this in mind while drafting statutes.
Modi highlighted several government initiatives:
- Over 8 lakh criminal cases resolved in three years through the legal-aid defence counsel system.
- The e-courts project modernising and humanising justice delivery via technology.
- Removal of 40,000 unnecessary business compliances.
- Repeal of 1,500 obsolete laws and decriminalisation of 3,400 provisions under the Jan Vishwas Act.
- Replacement of colonial-era laws with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
- Launch of the new Mediation Act to revive India’s traditional dispute-resolution culture in modern form.
At the event, he unveiled a new training module on community mediation, expressing confidence it would create mediators to settle disputes faster, cheaper, and more harmoniously.
Citing lakhs of cases resolved through Lok Adalats and pre-litigation mediation, Modi reiterated that over the past 11 years, the government has prioritised ease of living alongside ease of doing business. |
