NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted India’s civilisational belief in the rule of law and said this core value cleared the way for the “wholehearted acceptance” of recent critical judicial verdicts.“In recent times, there have been some critical judgments and decisions which have been the subject of global discussion. Before these judgments were delivered, several apprehensions were being expressed about the consequences. But look what happened, 1.3 billion Indians wholeheartedly accepted the judicial verdicts,” the PM said while inaugurating a two-day international conference judicial conference organised by the Supreme Court.His remarks were seen as referring to the SC’s verdict in the intensely contested case for the disputed site at Ayodhya , which the top court awarded to Hindus for the construction of a Ram Mandir.Modi said the rule of law forms the bedrock of the tremendous faith reposed by people in the judiciary. The maturity with which the verdicts were accepted underlined the country’s ancient saying that “law is the king of kings, law is supreme”, he added.The Prime Minister said the government has, in the last five years, taken numerous steps to protect the rights of citizens and put to an end to discrimination faced by the disabled, transgenders and women. He said the government repealed not only 1,500 archaic and irrelevant laws but also enacted new legislation to strengthen the social fabric.“In legislating the rights for transgenders, the law against the practice of triple talaq, expanding the rights of divyang (people with disabilities), the government has worked with complete sensitivity and responsiveness to the needs of modern society,” Modi said.Hailing India’s strides towards economic development, the PM said that the country has become the fifth largest economy from its earlier position of 11th in the last 5-6 years. He said India is scaling new heights, creating new definitions of success and challenging old beliefs and perceptions.“There was a time when it was said that rapid development and environment protection cannot go together. India has changed this perception. Today, while on one hand India is taking rapid strides in development, our forest cover has substantially expanded,” he said.The Prime Minister appreciated the role played by the SC in redefining environmental jurisprudence and creating a balance between development and environment. He said technology could be handy in ensuring speedy justice and pitched for synchronisation of artificial intelligence with human wisdom in judiciary. He said the government is working towards connecting every court to the e-courts system to achieve the goal.