Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday said a roadmap is needed to make India a developed country by 2047 and called the rule of law the cornerstone of democracy.
The Minister of Justice is delivering a speech at an event organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to celebrate the 77th Anniversary of Independence Day on the grounds of the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, who raised the national flag on the lawn of the Supreme Court, said the biggest challenge facing India's justice system was removing barriers to access to justice and the need to consider prioritizing infrastructure to make courts accessible and comprehensive.
Meghwal, in a short speech in Hindi, said that although 75 years of independence is celebrated as "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", it also provides an opportunity to analyze the nation's journey and determine whether India has a destination or not.
“How the past 75 years have passed, where did we come from, have we reached our destination… There is an opportunity to analyze all this. But where we are going in 2047, the destination was announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort today,” he said.
Meghwal said a "road map" is essential to turning any country into a developed country.
"We have to prepare a road map... Everyone has to move forward together, in the process of making India a developed country," the justice minister said.
Meghwal said a country cannot exist without the five essential elements which are distinct geography, sovereignty, national flag, currency, and language. He said that according to Western philosophers, before the Magna Carta, there was "a contradiction between the rule of law and human rule".
Article 35 of the Magna Carta stipulates that in the future there will be the rule of law, which is the foundation of democracy, Meghwal said.
However, India has a traditional history of democracy as seen in the "sabhas" of the time of Gautam Buddha and as mentioned by Sant Ravidas and others, he said.
He assured the lawyers that their matters, including those related to the Lawyers and Law Firms Protection Act, were being reviewed by the Department.
He said CJI is making several changes, including e-courts, using artificial intelligence, and strengthening alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. SCBA President and Lead Advocate Adish C Aggarwala and SCBA Secretary Rohit Pandey attended the event.
