Supreme Court has always acted as a ‘people’s court’, says CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud has said that the Supreme Court has acted as a “people’s court” in the last seven decades. He said that thousands of citizens have approached the apex court’s door with the faith that they will get justice through this institution. “Our court is perhaps the only Ccurt in the world where any citizen, no matter who they are or where they come from, can set in motion the constitutional machinery of the Supreme Court simply by even writing to the Chief Justice of India,” he said in his address after a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar was unveiled by President Droupadi Murmu in the Supreme Court premises as part of Constitution Day celebrations. The CJI said that establishing such a statue is an extension of the thought that the right to approach the Court is “heart and soul” of the Constitution, as Dr Ambedkar famously said. “So when we say today, we honour the adoption of the Constitution, first and foremost, we honour the fact that the Constitution ‘exists’, and that the Constitution ‘works’,” he added. CJI Chandrachud said that apart from ensuring that the citizens get justice through its judgments, the Supreme Court has been making its administrative processes citizen-centric. He said that recently, the Supreme Court has launched e-Sewa Kendras in all courts to ensure that no citizen is left behind in the judicial process. “We embrace our citizens as co-equal partners in a shared national endeavour,” he said.