Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Atrocities against women, safety of children a serious concern: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 31 emphasised that atrocities committed against women and the safety of children are a serious concern in society.

Modi, speaking at the inaugural function of the National Conference of District Judiciary, highlighted that the quicker the decisions in cases involving crimes against women the greater would be the assurance given to women, who form half the country’s population. The Prime Minister’s comments follow nationwide protests in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor who was on night duty at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital recently.

The PM said strict laws to protect women and give them justice were already in place and the government had planned fast-track courts in 2019. He pushed for deposition centres for crucial witnesses to testify without fear, and district committees with the District Judge, District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police concerned to coordinate action in such sensitive cases.

The PM said the spirit of new criminal laws, including the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, was “citizen first, dignity first and justice first”. He said the idea behind the Nyaya Sanhita was not just to punish citizens but to protect them.

Modi unveiled the stamp and coin commemorating 75 years of the establishment of the Supreme Court.

In his address, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said the district judiciary was the first point of contact for a citizen in search of justice and was the “backbone of the judiciary”.

“We must stop calling the district judiciary the ‘subordinate’ judiciary. Seventy-five years after Independence, the time has come for us to bury one more relic of the British era — the colonial mindset of subordination,” the Chief Justice said.

The CJI drew attention to the phenomenon of more women joining the district judiciary. He said that 72% of the total number of judicial officers were women in the latest recruitment in Kerala.