President inaugurates Sesquicentennial Celebrations of the High Court of Judicature

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Allahabad High Court will complete 150 years of its existence on 17, March 2016.

"The High Court building will also complete 100 years of its existence in November 2016. There is thus a dual purpose to these celebrations in what is one of the largest temples of justice not just in India but the entire world. Today, the Allahabad High Court has jurisdiction over the largest state in India, covering nearly one-sixth of our total population," the President said.

"The rich jurisprudence emerging from this Court has benefited not just the people of Uttar Pradesh but the country at large," Mukherjee said.

He congratulated the Allahabad High Court for its glorious contributions over one and a half century.

He expressed confidence that the High Court will continue to uphold the basic values of equality, liberty and justice enshrined in our Constitution and safeguard the freedom and fundamental rights of our people so that they realize their full potential as worthy citizens of this great nation.

The President said that increasing the number of courts and judges and judicial officers at all levels is the first step towards achieving the objective of timely delivery of justice. The government and the judiciary are collectively addressing this issue through an ongoing increase in the sanctioned strength of judges both at the level of the High Courts as well as District and Subordinate Courts. These sanctioned posts need to be filled quickly so that requisite judicial manpower is available for timely disposal of cases.

The President said that it is imperative that we speed up adoption of information and communication technology in the judicial system. The process of computerisation of district and subordinate courts is underway through the eCourts Integrated Mission Mode project of the Central Government.

Most of the courts have already been computerised pursuant to this initiative. He stated that he was particularly happy that a Centre for Information Technology has been established in the Allahabad High Court and approximately one crore decided case files running into 50 crore pages are to be digitized within one year, the President said.