The Supreme Court and High Courts may interpret, refine and shape the law but it is the district judiciary that breathes life into it. If the higher judiciary is the mind of the legal system, the district judiciary is the life blood, its vital organs that holds the entire body together, said Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in Madurai on Sunday.

The CJI inaugurated the additional court buildings on Madurai District Court campus and an additional guest house at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court premises. Addressing the gathering at the District Court campus, the CJI said the district judiciary is the backbone of the justice delivery system.

“I do not use that phrase as a pleasantry or ceremonial compliment. I use it because it is a statement of structural fact. For the vast majority of citizens, district court is the first court they will ever enter. For many it is the only court they will ever know”, he said.