Guwahati: Union ports, shipping & waterways and Ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal, while attending the platinum jubilee celebrations of
Gauhati High Court in the city on Thursday termed the higher court as crusade for justice in northeast India. He also congratulated the chief justice, judges, legal fraternity and staff of the institution on the historic occasion.
“Gauhati High Court has come a long way since its inception on 5 April 1948. It has been continuing its crusade for justice in northeast India. It has earnestly carried out its task in this region despite the varied laws and customs of the region,” said Sonowal, who hails from Assam and served the State as its chief minister.
In a democratic polity, one of the crucial pre-conditions of good governance is the availability of an effective justice-delivery system. The Supreme Court, higher courts and lower courts are the medium through which the constitution envisages the dispensation of justice, commented Sonowal.
He further urged the legislature, judiciary and executive to work hand in hand in the interest of the people of India saying, ‘after all democracy is all about people and supreme power is held by the people’. Highlighting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives to strengthen the judicial infrastructure inthe country, Sonowal added that over rupees nine thousand crore are being spent during the last nine years to modernize the judicial infrastructure.
“Number of court-halls in the country has also increased. During the last nine years, e-courts have transformed the conventional ways of governance and in the meantime it successfully completed two phases. Union government in its budget 2023-24
announced rupees 7000 crore for the third phase of e-courts,” revealed Sonowal adding that steps are being initiated for writing of laws in simpler language and promoting judicial functioning in local languages.
President Droupadi Murmu, who arrived in Assam on Thursday, is scheduled to grace the celebrations along with CJI justice DY Chandrachud. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the concluding function on 14 April. Earlier Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma released the Assamese version of ‘Gauhati High Court: History & Heritage’ and Union law minister Kiren Rijiju a commemorative stamp on the higher court in presence of chief justice Sandeep Mehta and a host of dignitaries.
