The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bench and Bar must work together: CJ

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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
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Bench and Bar must work together: CJ

Special Correspondent

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Enabling tool: Madras High Court Chief Justice Hemant Laxman Gokhale launches a catalogue for the newly-established e-library at the High Court in Chennai on Monday. Judges Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice K.N. Basha are in the picture.

CHENNAI: The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Hemant Laxman Gokhale, on Monday urged the Bench and the Bar to work together to make a “new beginning” and bring back the glorious days of the High Court.

Launching an e-library section under the auspices of the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) at the High Court, Mr. Justice Gokhale said that the recent elections, in which people voted for performance, should serve as a wake-up call not only for the government but also for the Bench and the Bar to deliver results.

Mr. Justice Gokhale said that while he had occasionally been critical of lawyers, he had also been appreciative of their good gestures. He complimented the High Court advocates on not going by the last week’s boycott call given by the Federation of Bar Associations and on rededicating themselves to the service to the litigant public.

The Chief Justice urged lawyers to avail themselves of the library resources to make effective presentation of cases in court. The Chief Justice wanted the MHAA to initiate lecture series by way of paying tributes to eminent judges and lawyers to orient younger advocates towards the doyens of the past.

Mr. Justice Gokhale said that one of the steps that had been initiated to improve the judiciary was to introduce a system of stock-taking of case materials and their categorisation. A conference was convened with three district judiciaries recently to discuss pendency of cases, boycotts and associated difficulties for the litigants, stocktaking of case materials and administrative problems. Shortly, a conference of all district judges would be convened to discuss key judicial issues, he added.

Launching a telecommunication centre on the premises, High Court Judge Justice Elipe Dharma Rao urged the lawyer fraternity to utilise the library to improve their contribution to the profession. Opening new library sections, High Court Judge Justice K. N. Basha said the library was the heart of the legal profession.

MHAA president R. C. Paul Kanagaraj said the new facilities were established on the contributions of several donors. Among the donors who were felicitated were advocates N. R. Chandran, T. V. Ramanujam, R. Shanmuga Sundaram, and A. Thiyagarajan and educationist Jeppiaar.

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