After giving oral permission to lawyers last month to argue their cases in Tamil, the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, M. Yusuf Eqbal, himself spoke a few words in the classical language during his maiden visit to the Madurai Bench on Wednesday.
“ Ellorukkum Vanakkam (good wishes to one and all),” said the Chief Justice, who hails from Ranchi, while addressing a gathering of lawyers and court staff at a function organised in Court Hall No. 1 to welcome him to the Bench. He then shifted to English but only to conclude his speech with “ Nandri (thank you), Vanakkam.”
Expressing concern over the “recent trend among advocates in resorting to boycotts for even small things,” he said: “I only want to say that it is our profession. Nobody can claim to be a learned person than an advocate and no profession can be termed as a noble profession except our profession. That dignity we have to sustain and maintain.”
He went on to state: “When there is any grievance from an individual, they approach the advocate and you get redressal for the said individual if there was a real grievance. You know how to get justice to him. You have to follow the same procedure if you have any grievance from any quarters.”
There was no such thing that could not be solved through talks, he said and urged the Bar members to have a dialogue with the judges before striking work. “Boycott is not going to solve the problem. But, at times, it will work against you,” he cautioned.
Many senior advocates who had put in more than 50 years of practice at the district and taluk levels were remembered forever because of their quality of work. Every lawyer should strive hard to win such laurels and become a renowned personality, he said.
