On January 28, 2024, the Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee (75th Year) celebration of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) at the Supreme Court auditorium in Delhi.
- The day marks the 75th anniversary of the inauguration of the Supreme Court of India on 28th January 1950.
Highlights:
i.PM Modi launched multiple citizen-centric information and technology initiatives – Digital Supreme Court Reports(SCR), Digital Courts 2.0 and new website of Supreme Court(https://www.sci.gov.in/)
ii.During the event, PM Modi announced that the Government of India has allocated Rs 800 crore for the expansion of the Supreme Court Building Complex.
iii.A Ceremonial bench presided over by Chief Justice of India(CJI) Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud was assembled to mark Commencement of Diamond Jubilee Year (2024) of the SCI. The bench comprised all companion judges.
- The Chief Justices of High Courts and former judges of the Supreme Court were part of the event.
About the New Initiatives:
i.Digital SCR will offer free access to Supreme Court (SC) judgments in electronic format.
This also features all 519 volumes of SC reports since 1950, including 36,308 cases. This will be available in digital format, bookmarked, user-friendly, and with open access.
ii.Digital Courts 2.0, an initiative under the e-Courts project, ensures the availability of court records to district courts Judges in electronic form. This also uses artificial intelligence (AI) for transcribing speech to text on a real-time basis.
iii.The new website of SC, redesigned with a user-friendly interface, is available in bilingual (English and Hindi) format.
Other Key Participants:
Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ministry of Law and Justice (MoL&J), Judges of Supreme Court, Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai; Attorney General of India, R Venkataramani; President of Supreme Court Bar Association; Dr Adish C Aggarwal and Chairman of Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra.
Background:
i.The Supreme Court of India is the apex judicial body under the Constitution of India. Article 124 of the Constitution states that “There shall be a Supreme Court of India.”
ii.The inauguration of the SCI took place in Chamber of Princes in the old Parliament building which housed the Federal Court of India from 1937 to 1950.
iii.The first Chief Justice of India, Harilal J. Kania led the inaugural sitting of the Supreme Court on 28 January 1950.
Recent Related News:
i.Madras High Court(Chennai, Tamil Nadu) has directed IRDAI to make IMT-29 of the Indian Motor Tariff 2002 compulsory as an inbuilt coverage for employees while issuing a Private Car policy for employer’s vehicles.
ii.The CJI Dhananjay Yeshwant(DY) Chandrachud has been felicitated with the ‘2022 Center on the Legal Profession(CLP) Award for Global Leadership’ by The Harvard Law School Center of Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States of America(USA).
About Supreme Court of India (SCI):
Current CJI– Dhananjaya Yeshwant (DY) Chandrachud
Establishment– January 28, 1950
Headquarter– New Delhi, Delhi
