As he prepares to demit office later this month, President A P J Abdul Kalam today said that the country was facing a “shortage of leadership with nobility” and people were now looking to the judiciary as their “only hope”.

Speaking at the launch of the e-court project in New Delhi, Kalam remarked that “a nation fails not because of economic progress but because of an increase in decision makers with small minds”.

“Our society is going through unique dynamics due to the shortage of leadership with nobility. The only hope the nation cherishes and looks to is the judiciary with its excellence and impeccable integrity... This casts a very heavy responsibility on the entire judicial system to live up to the expectations reposed in it and to maintain the sacred aura attached to it unsullied. Qualities of honesty and integrity are synonymous with each member of the judicial system,” he said.

Present at the function were Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and Communications and Information Technology Minister A Raja.

Describing the country’s judicial system as “dynamic” and “throbbing with life”, Kalam said “as the ultimate protector of human rights and the final resort for dispensation of justice, the citizens of India look up to this institution with hope.”

He even administered an oath to law students who attended the function, making them take a pledge to work sincerely to decrease pendency of cases.

Appreciating the e-courts project that aims at enhancing the efficiency of the judiciary by linking the courts electronically and digitising the services, Kalam said the government should now work towards creating an e-judiciary.

... contd.