PM Modi hails Indian judiciary for holding balance between development, ecological protection

New Delhi, Feb 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed the Indian judiciary for redefining environmental jurisprudence to strike a balance between development and ecological protection.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the International Judicial Conference 2020 - 'judiciary and the changing world' at the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister referred to gender justice and said no country or society in the world can claim to achieve holistic development without it.

He referred to laws on transgenders, 'triple talaq' and on the rights of 'Divyang' (persons with disabilities) and said the government has also taken steps to give rights to women in military services and in providing paid maternity leave for 26 weeks to women.

Referring to the use of technology, PM Modi said it can help in procedural management of courts and benefit the justice delivery system to a large extent.

"In addition, in the changing times, issues like data protection, cyber-crime pose new challenges for the judiciary," the Prime Minister said.

Referring to recent judicial verdicts by Indian courts, the Prime Minister said 1.3 billion Indians have "wholeheartedly" accepted them despite there being several apprehensions expressed about the consequences.

Speaking at the occasion, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said India is a "melting pot of cultures" and has assimilated cultures of Mughals, Dutch, Portuguese and English.

"Constitution has created a strong and independent judiciary and we have strived to keep this basic feature intact," the CJI said.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad referred to apex court judgements and said terrorists and corrupt people have "no right to privacy" and such persons should not be allowed to abuse the system. Prasad said governance must be left to elected representatives and delivering judgements should be left to judges. He said populism should not infringe upon the settled principles of law.