THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, DELHI

• Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud Ji,
• Hon’ble Union Minister for Law &Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju Ji,
• Hon’ble Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Puri Ji,
• Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul Ji, Supreme Court of India
• Hon’ble Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Mr. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma Ji,
• Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Arvind Kejriwal Ji,
• Ladies & Gentlemen,

1. It is indeed a matter of pleasure and privilege for me to be present, on this occasion in the company of haloed Judicial and Legal luminaries. The inauguration of the new building complex, on the precinct of the Delhi High Court, I am sure will further aid to the cause of Justice.
2. At the outset, I would like to thank Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and Hon’ble Chief Justice of Delhi High Court for having given me this opportunity, to be present on this momentous occasion of inauguration of the new building blocks. It is only befitting that the High Court of Delhi, in the National Capital of India, should be replete with state-of-art and modern physical infrastructure.

3. Your Lordships and Friends from the Legal fraternity in the audience,
   To my mind, efficient administration and speedy delivery of Justice, is a collective responsibility of all arms and pillars of our Constitutional Democracy. Even as the Judiciary with the Hon’ble Supreme Court at its head, remains the pivotal corner stone, and arch of Justice and Jurisprudence in India, it is the responsibility of the Executive and Legislature as well, to do all possible in the aid of the Judiciary, so as to ensure the sine-qua-non (साइन-क़ुआ-नन) of speedy and efficient justice delivery.

4. As pointed out and underlined by many Hon’ble Judges and Jurists on different occasions, the problems in India’s Justice delivery system are, to a fairly large extent due to, what has been described as “poor” infrastructure. It is empirically established that there is, a proportional co-relation between availability of infrastructure – be it sufficient Court Rooms, Chambers, Support Staff, Sanitation Facilities or Digital Connectivity – and productivity in the delivery of Justice.
5. A Court’s infrastructure can have an overwhelming impact on the quality of Justice dispensed. Adequate infrastructure, positively impacts the productivity of Hon’ble Judges, Administrative Staff as indeed Advocates and Counselors. In my brief stint as Lt. Governor of Delhi, I have in my limited capacity, tried my best to aid in the augmentation of physical infrastructure and human resource, in supporting roles in the Courts functioning in Delhi.
6. We recently approved the Hon’ble High Court’s proposal for selection of support staff through the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board, despite the fact that such selection was not in the mandate of the Board. This, I hope would ensure speedy appointments to vacant positions and serve the needs of the Courts. Similarly, to clear the huge backlog of cases registered under the Negotiable Instruments Act (NI Act) in city courts, we facilitated the hiring of 05 judicial officers, and 35 other clerical and support staff in five special courts, on contract basis, as a pilot project to examine the efficacy and additional requirements of staff or resources in future.
7. The Lokayukta in Delhi, which had since its inception in 1996, not had a dedicated senior level officer to head its investigation vertical was, only last month provided with an officer of sufficient seniority to head its investigative services.

8. Dignitaries on the Dias, Ladies and Gentlemen,
   Even as such steps are miniscule drops in the ocean, my purpose is to underline, that we are fully seized of matters related to the functional requirements of the Hon’ble Courts and will do every bit to fulfill our responsibilities in this regard.

Jai Hind !