The Hindu : Front Page : A pleasant honour for judges

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005

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Front Page

A pleasant honour for judges

Mohamed Imranullah S.

HONOUR: A rescued child labourer honouring Shivaraj V. Patil at a function held in Madurai on Saturday. Chief Justice Markandey Katju, Madras High Court, looks on. — Photo: K. Ganesan

MADURAI: There cannot be a more fitting way to honour dignitaries than allowing victims of human rights violation to greet them.

At a function organised to release the book, `Humility, Humanity and Human Rights,' here on Saturday, it was a pleasant surprise for judges when they were honoured by child and bonded labourers, who were rescued recently.

A 12-year-old boy R. Macharajan of Madurai presented a shawl to Shivaraj V. Patil, whose speeches were compiled and published as a book by the Society for Community Organisation Trust. The boy, who struggled at a sweet meat shop in Maharashtra, was rescued a few days ago. Dr. Patil is a member of the National Human Rights Commission and former judge, Supreme Court of India.

Similarly, 14-year-old Arumugam of Sivaganga district honoured the chief guest of the function, Markandey Katju, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Arumugam, who lost his father at young age, was forcibly taken to Allahabad three years ago as a bonded labourer. Pleased by the honour accorded to him by Sadiq Batcha of Erode, who was relieved from the clutches of a mill owner in Allahabad, P. Sathasivam of Madras High Court said: "In my 10 years of service as a judge, I have never received such a pleasant honour."

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