CJI Surya Kant said high litigation costs and long court delays are blocking access to justice for ordinary citizens. He stressed that justice must be affordable, timely and humane to protect constitutional dignity.
Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Sunday said that delay in courts and rising litigation costs are the biggest challenges facing India’s justice delivery system, and that the real test of justice is not legal theory but the daily experience of ordinary people who struggle to access courts.
Speaking at a symposium organised by the Orissa High Court Bar Association on
“Ensuring justice for the common man: Strategies for reducing litigation costs and delays,”
the Chief Justice said justice has meaning only when it is easy to reach, affordable, predictable and humane. He stressed that courts must focus on how citizens actually experience the system, especially the poor and vulnerable.
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Recalling his early days as a practising lawyer, Justice Surya Kant shared a personal memory of seeing an elderly farmer waiting outside a courtroom till late afternoon because his case was listed very low on the cause list.
“For him, delay was not a docket statistic. It was a quiet erosion of dignity,”
he said, explaining how long court processes hurt people far beyond paperwork and numbers.
The Chief Justice said such delays strike at the heart of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and dignity. When justice becomes slow or too expensive, this promise is weakened.
“The right to dignity is killed through a thousand cuts when the rule of law becomes tardy or expensive,”
he observed, warning that prolonged procedures slowly destroy public trust in courts.
On the issue of pendency, Justice Surya Kant said backlog is not a problem of one court alone but a system-wide issue. When higher courts are burdened with old cases, the pressure flows downward and affects trial courts as well.
He said the Supreme Court is making efforts to clear long-pending matters involving settled or repetitive legal questions so that uncertainty does not continue to block progress in lower courts.
“Finality at the top creates confidence across the judicial pyramid,”
he said, adding that this effort is not just about managing files but about stabilising the entire justice system.
The Chief Justice strongly supported the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), especially mediation, calling it one of the most effective ways to cut costs and reduce delays.
Based on his judicial experience, he said mediation has helped resolve family disputes, commercial disagreements, trademark matters and even cross-border conflicts, when parties are willing to talk and compromise.
However, he pointed out that ADR is still not used enough due to lack of proper systems and mindset. Government departments, he said, often file appeals as a routine step because of institutional fear rather than real legal need.
He stressed that there must be better training and accountability to stop unnecessary litigation by the state.
Justice Surya Kant also cautioned lawyers against forum shopping, saying that approaching higher courts simply because one can afford it adds to delays and burdens the system.
“The appropriate forum must be respected,”
he said, making it clear that settlement should not be treated as defeat but as a smart and practical way to resolve disputes.
On the use of technology, the Chief Justice said tools introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic—such as virtual hearings, e-filing and online case tracking—have clearly shown their ability to reduce delays and make justice more accessible.
He noted that digital service of summons and electronic tracking of notices can save months that are otherwise lost due to repeated adjournments.
At the same time, he warned against blind dependence on technology, especially when issues like deepfakes and digital fraud are increasing.
He said reforms that leave behind the poor, the elderly or those who are not comfortable with digital systems may actually increase inequality instead of improving access to justice.
Highlighting the need for better judicial infrastructure, Justice Surya Kant said many courts continue to suffer due to lack of adequate courtrooms, staff and facilities. He emphasised that spending on infrastructure should be seen as a long-term investment, not as unnecessary expenditure.
He also called for the creation of specialised and exclusive courts to ensure time-bound trials, particularly in complex criminal cases involving national or international concerns.
In his concluding remarks, the Chief Justice compared the justice system to a chariot that moves on four wheels—the bench, the bar, the administration and the citizen.
“If even one refuses to move, the journey halts,”
he said, urging all stakeholders to work together to ensure timely, affordable and meaningful justice for every citizen.
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