President Droupadi Murmu of India recently addressed the issue of undertrial prisoners who have been languishing in prisons for years without being adjudged guilty by a court of law.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new building of the Jharkhand High Court on May 25, President Murmu emphasized the burden on the courts and called for society as a whole to address the root cause of the problem.

The president highlighted the overcrowded conditions in prisons that make the lives of undertrial prisoners even more difficult. She stressed the need for society to collectively tackle this issue and commended the ongoing debate and attention being given to the matter.

President Murmu also emphasized the importance of access to justice and the need for inclusive language in the courts. She expressed her happiness at steps being taken to ensure access to justice, particularly for women from different segments of society, but acknowledged that more efforts were needed to continuously improve access to justice.

Two key components of access to justice mentioned by the president were reducing the cost of litigation and using regional languages to make court processes more comfortable for citizens who are not proficient in English.

The president praised Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for delivering his address in Hindi and encouraged other judges to follow his example.

Chief Justice Chandrachud also highlighted the importance of a justice delivery system that reaches out to people and expressed the Supreme Court's initiative to translate judgments into scheduled languages to reach people living in villages.

President Murmu called upon stakeholders, including judges, jurists, and members of the legal fraternity, to find innovative ways to expand the reach of justice. She emphasized the role of modern technology and the younger generation in innovating the justice delivery system.

The president concluded by addressing the need to ensure that litigants who have secured favorable verdicts in prolonged legal battles actually receive the benefit of the relief granted. Drawing from her own background, President Murmu expressed her understanding of the plight of these individuals and urged the audience to take responsibility for ensuring complete justice.

Overall, President Droupadi Murmu highlighted the issue of undertrial persons languishing in prisons for years, emphasized access to justice, inclusive language in courts, and called for innovative approaches to improve the justice delivery system and ensure the rightful benefit of relief to litigants.