Directed Centre To Provide Food, Shelter To Needy Amid Lockdown: CJI SA Bobde

Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde on Monday said that the Supreme Court has given proper directions to the Centre to provide food, shelter, psychological counselling and other basic necessities to the needy people during the lockdown.

"We have given proper directions to the Central government to provide food, shelter, psychological counselling and other basic necessities to the needy people during this COVID-19 lockdown," CJI Bobde told reporters in New Delhi.

He said that the judiciary is doing whatever it can at this time of crisis.

"It is up to the executive to decide how it can handle the situation effectively, as far as deploying money, relief materials and volunteers are concerned. It should ensure how speedily it can handle the crisis with a humane angle. The executive should thereby prioritise its system for expeditiously dealing with the crisis," CJI Bobde said.

Dispelling concerns of people not having access to justice, the CJI said that the number of cases filed in the Supreme Court has in fact increased during the lockdown.

"In January 2020, there were 205 cases filed daily in the Supreme Court. But in April, 305 cases have been filed through e-filing, which indicates that there is an increase in filing of cases during this lockdown period," the CJI said.

"Miscreants are not committing crimes. The crime rate has come down and at the same time the police action against the violators has also reduced," he added.

Talking about the top court hearings during the lockdown, the CJI said that the video conferencing proceedings are here to stay, however, he added that it will not entirely replace the court hearings.

CJI Bobde said that human lives are precious and that the executive can't allow the lives of citizens to be endangered. If that happens, the court will intervene and restore people's rights, he added.