Judges need to be sensitive towards litigants: CJI

Judges need to have change of mind set and be more sensitive to the problems of litigants who approach them for getting timely justice, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir said today.

"Lack of sensitivity creates distance between justice seeker and provider. There is a need of change in mindset of judicial officers. They should be sensitive," he said while recalling a case where a minor child had to wait for seven years for getting compensation for loss of her leg in a road accident.

Speaking in a conference on 'Equitable access to Justice', Justice Kabir said huge pendency of cases is not an Indian phenomenon but it is being witnessed all over the world and adopting alternate dispute redressal mechanism is the way to get over the problem.

"It is not only in India that this problem exists. It is a world wide phenomenon and people are trying to contain it," he said.

There are over three crore pending cases in various courts including Supreme Court.

The Chief Justice said that access to justice has become more difficult all over the world as it has become expensive and it is a challenge for the system to make justice accessible to all irrespective of their economic background.