Judicial activism has helped governments take up some good work which the governments could not do on their own due to lack of political will, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told members of the Advocates’ Association, Bangalore, at an Advocates’ Day function here on Tuesday.
He said that many a good work has been implemented due to the orders issued by the courts to the governments and the Executive.
The Chief Minister said that the people respect the judiciary and have great faith in it and there would have been disorder in society if there was no judiciary.
Pointing out that his days in the legal profession had induced in him the qualities of leadership, Mr. Shettar said that he could communicate with people better because of the experience he had gained during practising law.
He recalled that his clients too worked for him when he first contested the elections in the early 1990s. The Chief Minister told the judiciary that the State government would grant clearance to all projects related to judiciary while promising the association that the technical hurdles in the way of paying stipend to young lawyers would be removed at the earliest. He said that he would consider positively the proposal to construct chambers for advocates on the High Court premises.
Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka Vikramajit Sen urged the Chief Minister to give utmost attention to the demand of the association for providing chambers for them on the High Court premises.
While appreciating the State government’s quick action in issuing clearance to the construction of staff quarters for employees of the judiciary, Mr. Sen invited the attention of the Chief Minister to the works required to be taken up immediately at the City Civil Court complex here to prevent incidents that occurred during the March 2 violence.
Stating that behind every judgment there was the good work by advocates, Mr. Sen said that the legal fraternity should raise the status of advocates further by resolving to give back to society.
Association president K.N. Subba Reddy submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister listing out various demands, including payment of stipend and seeking grants for advocates’ library.