The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : New era in judicial history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

New era in judicial history

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, JULY 23. The inauguration of a Bench of the Madras High Court at Ulaganeri near here tomorrow will mark the beginning of a new era in the judicial history of Tamil Nadu.

For the litigants and advocates in the southern districts, it will be a red-letter day, as their long-pending dream will come true. The legal fraternity pursued a three-decade-old struggle and finally realised the noble objective of making judicial remedy accessible and affordable to the public, thanks to a strong political will — cutting across party lines — that made it possible.

The Chief Justice of India, R.C. Lahoti, will inaugurate the Madurai Bench at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the presence of the Union Law Minister, H.R. Bharadwaj; the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, B. Subhashan Reddy; and a galaxy of VIPs. More than 50 per cent of cases in the Madras High Court will be transferred to the Bench here.

Though the initiative dates back to the 1960s, with the Kanyakumari Bar Association and the Madurai-Ramnad Chamber of Commerce and Industry passing resolutions for the Bench's establishment, it was the Madurai Bar Association (MBA), which was instrumental in giving an organisational approach to the demand.

After the Jaswant Singh Commission submitted its recommendations favouring the setting up of the Bench, the MBA formed a federation of bar associations in the southern districts to take up the cause effectively. "The opening of the Bench will serve as a constitutional obligation for meeting the requirements of a welfare State. Democracy can survive only when access to the doors of justice is easy and less expensive," says the MBA president, K. Vellaichamy, who was part of the struggle from day one.

Hurdles along the way

Even as the establishment of the Bench had all legal sanctity, including a full court resolution of the Madras High Court, a few hurdles delayed its inauguration. The advocates in this part of the State had to tread a difficult path to make the multicrore project a reality.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu