TuriyaTalks S3E2 with Yadunath Bhargavan Karimbil : Access to Justice

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Truth never damages a cause that is just”, the 2nd episode of Turiya Talks season 3, was graced by Mr. Yadunath Bhargavan Karimbil, a Legal Counsel working across the country, accompanied by our co-founder Sandhya Sutodia, to discuss on the topic – Video Conferencing... The new Access to Justice, highlighting the use of video calls to serve justice to the needy even at the time of a pandemic.

Even though the judicial system has been able to resolve cases online during COVID -19, but it should not be a replacement for the offline court as the biggest high of being a lawyer is to convince the judge in favour of his argument and face-to-face communication works wonders in the legal system. Since India is a country where every case has its urgency, so being in a critical situation, data should be delicately balanced for giving birth to innovative ideas and finding the requisite solution with privacy subjected to security threats. 

After the implementation of technological aspects with legalization, “the pie will get bigger and better”, said Yadunath Bhargavan, as it increases the access to the Indian Judiciary which would benefit the people on a broader segment in access to justice. Video conferencing would hopefully bring an unprecedented amount of efficiency in giving justice effectively.

In fact, The Indian Supreme Court along with any other courts across the world as the whole world is suffering due to the pandemic, and the E-court facilities are just a beginning in justice being served at any cost. In fact, echoing this point, Mr. Yadunath also mentioned, “Shortly, E-courts are likely to be one of the most important Judiciary Systems in the world.”    

Most of the people in our country are unaware of the functioning of the Judicial system.  Being the justice provider, the law design should be framed in such a way that it can be understood by every citizen and should be made accessible which might turn out to be a game-changer in the future for the rules and regulations that the citizens have to abide by.

The irony is that even now more people have access to the internet than access to justice. As American fiction writer Lois McMaster Bujold said, “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so”, therefore, the least we can do through technology is utilizing it to the optimum level for providing justice to the citizens of our country.