The Supreme Court as a "public institution" needed to be opened for common people on Saturdays barring holidays, said Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The newly instated CJI also inaugurated the Centre for Research and Planning, an "in-house think tank" and launched a portal through which citizens can book their visit to the court. The common public can now have a guided tour of courtrooms and the judges' library on Saturdays between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The think tank is meant to carry out "cutting-edge research" into fundamental jurisprudence and the principles and doctrines of law as well as on judicial reforms for improvement in justice delivery system. "The in-house centre will be a very small body but it will be meant for domain experts all over the country who will be contributing their line of thoughts." in a function organised at Judges' lounge, said Justice Gogoi.
The main mandate of the think tank would be to collect, assimilate and disseminate inputs for judicial reforms, legal education and development of jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India, he said.
It is an experiment, a very limited exposure to the Supreme Court, a public institution that I thought should be opened up in a limited way.Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice Of India
Professor Mohan Gopal, academician and former vice chancellor of National Law School of India, Bangalore, also spoke at the programme, saying the think tank could play an important role in explaining the Supreme Court's work to the general public in a better way.
"We are setting out on a very important venture to create a permanent body of knowledge that can be accessed by the entire legal fraternity and by the public that will improve the better understanding of the working of the judiciary and the justice system," he said.
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