Indore, Aug 8 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh will set up fast-track courts in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur for speedy disposal of cases related to examination irregularities, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Saturday, addressing a legal conference here where Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was the chief guest.
Chief Minister Yadav made the announcement while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day West Zone Regional Conference on “Enhancing Access to Justice” at the Brilliant Convention Centre here, and highlighted technology-driven reforms undertaken to make the state’s justice delivery system faster and more accessible.
“Madhya Pradesh government has implemented e-case filing, virtual hearings, digital data management and modern judicial administration. Many obsolete British-era laws have been repealed,” he said.
He said the Jan Vishwas Act had decriminalised minor violations, making the legal system simpler and more citizen-friendly.
“Taking a significant step towards equal justice and equal rights, the Uniform Civil Code Bill has been passed in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly,” Chief Minister Yadav added.
The Chief Minister said the proposed fast-track courts in the four cities would ensure speedy justice in cases involving examination irregularities.
Addressing the event, CJI Surya Kant said that access to justice should not be viewed merely in terms of the final relief or judgment delivered by a court, but as an experience that begins from the first interaction of a citizen with the justice system.
“For the common citizen, the experience of justice is not limited merely to obtaining relief, compensation, acquittal, or a verdict; the experience of justice begins much earlier,” Justice Surya Kant added.
He said a person approaching a legal aid centre, court complex or Taluka-level Legal Services Authority must feel heard, respected and treated fairly.
The CJI said legal services institutions should move beyond a “one-size-fits-all” approach and respond to the specific needs of different communities and regions.
He called for legal outreach in local languages and dialects and greater engagement with vulnerable sections.
“Legal service institutions must shift their mindset from expecting the needy to come to them; instead, these institutions should reach out to the people,” he said.
Justice Surya Kant also underlined the role of para-legal volunteers in taking information about legal rights and government schemes to villages and marginalised communities.
He said dialogue, dignity and inclusion were key pillars of an effective legal services system and stressed that the constitutional promise of equal justice and free legal aid under Article 39A would have meaning only when its benefits reached the people for whom the system was created.
The conference is being held under the aegis of the National Legal Services Authority, with the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority and the Madhya Pradesh High Court involved in its organisation.
–IANS
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