CHENNAI: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday called for transparency among the people and lawyers for expeditious clearance of pending cases.
"Modern India has several environmental laws, but many of these are infirm with non-transparent processes," he said, addressing the Lawyers' Meet here through teleconference" Apart from the online process, we also have an in-house technology which enables us to check and know current air quality. We hope the judiciary too takes steps to expedite in clearing cases," he added.
Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Chief Justice of Madras High Court spoke about the need to have well qualified lawyers. "Over 70 percent cases are still clogged in our courts and the need is to have well qualified lawyers who can clear all unnecessary appeals. It is important that they connect well with their clients, which in many cases is lacking today," he said.
Justice R Bhanumathi recalled her experience with school children in Jharkhand where a PIL helped them a great deal. "The children of a government school had to travel 4 km everyday to have their mid day meals. On a PIL, the court passed an order and these children got an auto to escort them to the place everyday. It is small though, but it did make a difference," she said. "If we have more lawyers who are concerned about their surroundings, things would be a lot different, " she added.