Guwahati: Union minister of ports, shipping, waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday said that landmark judgments passed by the Gauhati High Court during the past 75 years have strengthened the legal and constitutional framework of our country.
Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebration function of Gauhati High Court, the Union minister said that the Gauhati High Court has come a long way since its inception on April 5, 1948.
“Since its inception, it has been continuing its crusade for justice in Northeastern India. It has earnestly carried out its task in this region despite the varied laws and customs of the region,” Sonowal said while congratulating the chief justice, judges, legal fraternity and staff of the High Court on the historic occasion.
The Union Minister remembered all the great judges who sat on the bench and all those great lawyers who appeared in the court and helped in the dispensation of justice.
“Landmark judgments passed by this court during the last 75 years have strengthened the legal and constitutional framework of our country,” Sonowal said.
“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, high courts, and lower courts are the medium through which the Constitution envisages the dispensation of justice. I am sure the high traditions set by these illustrious jurists will continue to inspire the present and future generations of the legal fraternity in the state,” the Union Minister said.
He further urged the legislature, judiciary and executive to work hand in hand in the interest of the people of the country. “After all, democracy is all about people and supreme power is held by the people,” the minister said.
Sonowal also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up time-bound initiatives to strengthen the judicial infrastructure of the country.
“Over Rs 9,000 crore has been spent during the last nine years to modernise the judicial infrastructure. The number of court halls in the country has also increased,” he said.
During the past nine years, e-Courts have transformed the conventional ways of governance and, in the meantime, it has successfully completed two phases.
The Union government in its Budget 2023-24 has announced Rs 7,000 crore for the third phase of e-Courts.
“It is indeed a massive allocation to create paperless courts for faster delivery of justice. Steps are also being initiated for easy and affordable justice to the poor through steps like the writing of laws in simpler language, promoting judicial functioning in local languages,” he said.
Notably, the platinum jubilee celebrations of the high court will be graced by President of India Droupadi Murmu on April 7 during her two-day visit to Assam.
Chief Justice of India Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud will also attend the function.
A felicitation ceremony will be held for the senior advocates and retired judicial officers, registry and pleaders clerks on the occasion which will be followed by the release of the Assamese version of the book, “Gauhati High Court: History & Heritage” by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Addressing a function on the occasion on Wednesday, chief minister Sarma had said that the identity of the Gauhati High Court was unique as, for a greater part of its existence, it served all seven states of the North East region.
This court, earlier known as the High Court of Assam, was established on August 14, 1948, and had its first session at Shillong but it was later shifted to Guwahati.
Sarma pointed out that till 1971, the court exercised judicial authority over the entire North East but after the reorganization of Assam that year, it was renamed as the Gauhati High Court and benches were created for Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
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In 2013, three full-fledged high courts were established at Imphal, Shillong and Agartala but “even today it exercises judicial authority over the four states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh”, the chief minister had said.
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