Budgam: Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju Sunday said that the doors of justice were open to all without any discrimination
An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that presiding over an awareness programme on ‘Legal Assistance at Pre-arrest, Arrest and Remand Stage’, he said, “Doors of justice are open to all without any discrimination of rich and poor and it is being ensured that no innocent is punished and no guilty is spared.”
Rijiju said that the Centre had taken various initiatives to reduce the pendency of cases in all courts ensuring prompt justice delivery.
He said that the constitutional rights should not only be upheld but also promoted.
Rijiju said that the Legal Aid Defense Counsel system would be fruitful in helping the marginalised sections of the society, who have no access to justice.
He emphasised the importance of such awareness programmes in providing ‘Legal Assistance at Pre-arrest, Arrest and Remand Stage’ to the downtrodden people of the society, thereby giving a meaning to access to justice.
Appreciating people of J&K as hearty and always overwhelming, Rijiju said that they had full faith in the justice delivery system.
“Kashmir is a paradise on earth, and people here are so privileged to live blissfully in this heaven,” he said.
Lauding the role of J&K Legal Services Authority, Rijiju said that the institute was ensuring delivery of justice in an efficient and competent manner across J&K.
He said that the objective of organising awareness regarding legal aid services was to educate people about their legal rights and easy access to the justice delivery system.
Rijiju emphasised on the empowerment of citizens with legal literacy saying that PLVs were playing an important role in bridging the gap between citizens and legal aid providers through Nyaya Bandhu and tele-law services by both offline and digital services.
He emphasised that Nyaya Bandhu and tele-law services were instrumental in providing legal aid to the deserving.
Rijiju said measures had been taken to ensure citizens including those living in remotest areas of the country have easy access to justice.
Earlier, he inaugurated the office of Legal Aid Defense Counsel at ADR Centre in District Court Complex, Budgam, in presence of Chief Justice of High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Executive Chairman JKLSA Justice Tashi Rabstan.
Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh in his keynote address stressed to make the judicial system accessible to every citizen so that the judiciary comes up to the expectations of the litigants.
He urged upon the people to avail the services of legal aid in the most efficient manner.
Justice Singh also enlightened the gathering about the sanctity of the preamble of the constitution of India, which provides access to justice for all especially the marginalised section of the society and that too free of cost.
He emphasised that legal services authorities were playing the role of a bridge between the judiciary and various other departments.
Executive Chairman, J&K Legal Services Authority, Justice Tashi Rabstan also threw light on the importance of such aids for having an access to justice for the people who actually need it.
He also elucidated the functioning of the legal aid defense counsels and asked the selected counsels to work for the people who by reason of economic or any other disadvantageous position are not able to have their grievances redressed.
Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Sanjay Dhar, Justice Puneet Gupta, Justice Muhammad Akram Chowdhary, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Budgam were also present on the occasion.
