Public must know constitutional rights, duties; unfortunate that only few are aware: CJI Ramana

India

pti-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
10:
Chief
Justice
of
India
N
V
Ramana
on
Wednesday
said
it
is
unfortunate
that
even
after
75
years
of
independence
only
a
few
are
aware
of
the
constitutional
provisions
and
emphasised
that
the
public
must
know
their
constitutional
rights
and
duties.

CJI
Ramana,
who
was
speaking
as
the
chief
guest
at
an
event
by
Eastern
Book
Company
to
celebrate
the
release
of
‘Supreme
Court
Cases
(SCC)
pre-1969’,
stated
that
the
ultimate
consumer
of
justice
is
the
public
and
thus
called
for
“simple”
judgement
writing
by
the
judges
as
well
as
publication
of
important
judgements
of
the
Supreme
Court
and
high
courts
in
regional
languages
by
law
journals.

He
said
even
a
“small
school
kid”
in
the
western
countries
is
aware
of
his
constitution
and
the
laws
and
asserted
“we
need
that
kind
of
culture”.
“The
lawyers
and
the
public
must
know
the
constitutional
provisions
and
the
Constitution.
It
is
unfortunate
that
we
are
now
celebrating
75
years
of
independence
but
still
only
a
few
selected
people
in
the
urban
areas
or
the
legal
professional
are
aware
of
the
constitutional
rights
and
duties
and
the
constitutional
principles,”
CJI
Ramana
said.

“They
(people)
must
know
what
the
Constitution
says
and
how
they
are
entitled
(under
the
laws).
What
are
their
rights,
how
to
implement
their
rights,
how
to
know
their
duties.
It
is
necessary
for
us,
especially
(law
journals)
to
try
and
introduce
at
least
selected
judgements
of
importance
—
crux
and
not
the
entire
judgement
—
in
regional
languages
to
enable
access
in
a
simple
language,”
he
added.

Acknowledging
that
translation
of
judgements
in
regional
languages
in
a
simple
manner
would
entail
a
financial
burden,
CJI
Ramana
added,
“I
hope
some
governments
can
also
give
some
money
because
they
are
now
starting
several
projects
for
popularising
the
Constitution
and
the
constitutional
schemes.
We
can
think
of
this
issue
also.”

He
further
said
being
a
judge
for
22
years,
he
was
aware
of
the
criticism
that
judgements
are
at
times
“like
a
thesis”
and
requested
all
members
of
his
fraternity
to
be
simple.
“I
request
all
the
fraternity
members
as
well
as
lawyers
who
are
contributing
by
arguing
to
try
to
be
simple
in
judgement
(and
write)
concise,
precise
and
short
sentences.
People
must
feel
like
they
are
reading
a
story,”
he
said.

“Ultimately,
at
the
end
of
the
day,
the
consumers
of
justice
are
the
litigant,
public
or
whoever
it
is,
they
must
know
the
end
result.
That
is
more
interesting
than
our
own
imaginations
and
philosophies.
That
way
I
think
we
can
help
the
public
a
lot.
The
reasoning
and
the
conclusion
needs
to
be
clear.
I
hope
and
trust
this
will
happen,”
he
said.