Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has on Saturday kept three demands to Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana when the former shared the dais with the latter in Chennai at an event that was held to lay the foundation stone for a nine-storey administrative block in the Madras High Court. The Chief Justice has presided over the ceremony and he had also inaugurated court buildings in the Namakkal and Villupuram districts. 

The event was also attended by the judges of the Madras High Court, including the Chief Justice of Madras High Court Munishwar Nath Bhandari. It is the first time that NV Ramana and MK Stalin had met each other after assuming their respective offices. While addressing the event, Chief Minister MK Stalin has kept three major demands to the Chief Justice and they are -- to ensure that the principles of social justice are followed in the appointment of judges, to make Tamil an official language of the Madras High Court, and to establish a Supreme Court bench in Chennai. 

MK Stalin said, "I request the CJI (Chief Justice of India) and his brother judges to consider establishing regional benches of the Supreme Court and make Tamil as an official language of the Madras High Court." By citing that the litigants have to travel from here to Delhi to seek justice from the apex court, he had urged the Chief Justice to set up a Supreme Court bench in Chennai. 

The Chief Minister said, "To meet needs of people of the south who have to go to New Delhi to get justice, I would like to mention the long pending request of constituting a bench of SC at Chennai." MK Stalin quoted that already four Indian states - Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar use their respective official language of the state in the High Courts and request the Chief Justice to make Tamil the official language of the Madras High Court. 

MK Stalin had suggested that there is a need to bring in the Principle of Inclusiveness in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary. Responding to MK Stalin's demand of using local languages in the High Courts, Chief Justice Ramana has said that such proceedings are being prevented by some barriers. He said, "There are some barriers that have prevented local languages from being adopted in HC proceedings. I'm sure innovation or science & technology, advancements such as AI, some of the issues associated with the introduction of languages may be solved in the near future." 

On the front of establishing regional benches for the Supreme Court, CJI Ramana said that a private Bill was introduced in the Parliament by senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson seeking regional benches for the Supreme Court. He said, "I am not aware if the (Union) government has expressed its views on this subject." "But, we have decided to continue virtual hearing along with physical hearing during miscellaneous days and even on other days to ensure accessibility of the SC to all across the country." 

The CJI has further said that the language and procedures followed in courts should not be like mantras chanted in marriages that no one will understand. Ramana has pressed that the common people should be made an active part of the judicial system.  He further rained praise on the Tamil people for their love for their language and identity. He said, "Tamil people will be the first to render their voice for language. Their language and identity are pride and the lawyers in Chennai play a vital role in enhancing the judiciary. Chief Minister MK Stalin has been taking various initiatives in the welfare of advocates."