President Kovind says that Litigation Fees Should Not Create A Divide between The Haves & Have-Nots

President Ram Nath Kovind said Friday, “Litigation fees should not create a "divide between the haves and have-nots.”

Frequent adjournments – often sought only to delay cases – were an inconvenience and a form of justice tax on poor and less well-off litigants, the President said.

Speaking at the presentation of the book, “Law, Justice and Judicial Power Justice PN Bhagwati’s Approach” [that was formally released at a function held in Delhi on Feb 8], the President

said that Justice Bhagwati was an institution into himself and highlighted his contributions to the judiciary.

"Justice Bhagwati strived to expand the concept of justice and make justice that much more accessible to common people. This humanist philosophy was in the best traditions of the law and of the judicial calling. He belonged to a generation of eminent jurists who re-conceived and re-imagined the role of the judiciary in a developing democracy such as India. This was a time when the judiciary came to recognise that the true judicial role of a judge is to transcend the boundaries of technocratic adjudication, and is to place himself or herself as a friend and protector of the poor and the oppressed," said President Kovind of Justice Bhagwati.

"Litigation fees should not create a divide between haves and have-nots, and between litigants who can afford and cannot afford considerable fees. This is an urgent issue for the bench and the bar to consider and help resolve," the President said.