Economic policies to make India developed nation by 2047: PM Modi

Economic policies to make India developed nation by 2047: PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India’s economic policies, coupled with modernising laws keeping in view the present context, will make India a developed nation by 2047.

Addressing the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Supreme Court, Modi said, “In the changing global order, the world is looking up to India and its faith in India is increasing. Ease of living, ease of doing business, ease of travel and communication are the priority areas for India. Along with it, ease of justice must make access to justice available to the people in remote areas.”

Terming 2047 as the target year, the PM said every institution, organisation, executive and legislatures are working in the direction of turning India into a developed country. Praising SC for giving the country’s socio-political milieu a new dimension through its decisions upholding the Constitution framers’ cherished principles of liberty, equality and justice, Modi said in achieving the target, “the Supreme Court must play a constructive role in this regard”.

Modi said simplification of laws to make the commoners understand them is as important as the courts writing judgments in simple language. He said the government has framed three new laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, which is a judicious mix of Indianness and modernity.

“With these three new laws, the legal, policing and investigation systems are entering a new phase. But the transition from more than a century old colonial laws to the new codes should be easy and smooth. The government has begun training its officials on the provisions of these three laws. SC must take the lead in training judicial officers on these laws,” he said.

The PM praised the wholesome infusion of technology in the justice delivery system under the leadership of CJI D Y Chandrachud. He said the government is committed to improve the judicial infrastructure, adding that since 2014, more than Rs 7,000 crore has been disbursed for this purpose. He said the government last month approved a budgetary allocation of Rs 7,210 crore for the third phase of e-Court mission, which was more than four times of that for the second phase.

Modi said he was aware of the difficulties faced by lawyers, litigants and judges because of space constraints in the 67-year-old SC building and announced that government last week has approved Rs 800 crore for its expansion project.

The PM, who was flanked by CJI Chandrachud and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, however indirectly hinted at how the Central Vista project, which included the new Parliament building, was embroiled in litigation from Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court. In February 2020, HC’s Justice Rajiv Shakdher had asked DDA to approach the court for making changes in the Delhi Master Plan to clear the project. A month later a division bench of the HC stayed Justice Shakdher’s order. Later, the SC transferred all cases to itself. On January 5, 2021, a three-judge bench of the SC by two to one majority had cleared the project. Justice Khanna had dissented.

The PM said he sincerely hoped that the sanction of Rs 800 crore for SC’s expansion is not subjected to litigation on the ground of ‘fizul kharch (unnecessary expenditure)’. The judges on the dais and in the audience, who had worn smiles when the PM was praising the SC, maintained a stoic face.

Modi, meanwhile, said it gave him immense pleasure when government this year conferred Padma Bhushan on Justice M Fathima Beevi, the first Indian woman judge of SC and the first ever Muslim woman in Asia to become a judge of the highest court.

Beevi was appointed a SC judge in October 1989, six months after she retired as Kerala HC judge. She retired from SC in April 1992. In 1993, she became a member of NHRC and in 1997, she was appointed as governor of Tamil Nadu. She passed away in November last year.

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