The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Uphold, protect the prestige of judiciary, says Cyriac Joseph

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 06, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Uphold, protect the prestige of judiciary, says Cyriac Joseph

Staff Reporter

Advocates' Association felicitates High Court judge K. Bhaktavatsala

BANGALORE: Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Cyriac Joseph on Tuesday said judges, advocates and staff of the judiciary are all part of a homogeneous family and advocates should not keep aloof when judges are under attack.

He was speaking at a function organised on the High Court premises by the Indian Law Society and the Advocates' Association to felicitate High Court judge K. Bhaktavatsala after he was conferred a doctorate by the National Law School of India University.

Mr. Cyriac Joseph said if there was anything that affected the judges, the members of the bar should come forward to uphold and protect the respect and prestige of the institution.

Pointing out that he was only making a general statement and not focusing on an incident, he said he had always treated the staff and advocates as members of his family and hoped that they would reciprocate.

Advocate-General Uday Holla said education, scholarship and learning were the hallmark of judges and advocates. However, there had been a decline in them in the last few years. He said that Justice Bhaktavatsala had shown the way of arresting this decline and hoped that the youth would emulate his example.

Research paper

Justice Bhaktavatsala said he had earned his doctorate on "The Constitutional developments in India through judicial process".

He said he had dwelt in his research paper among other things on judicial activism, enrichment of fundamental rights through judicial process, contempt of court, judicial independence and accountability and the role of the judiciary in implementing international treaty obligations.

He said he had made several suggestions in his thesis, including the setting up of a police judiciare (judicial police) to be placed exclusively under the control of superior courts for expeditiously assessing official records and information to ensure speedy disposal of cases. Another suggestion was to have an upper age limit for persons holding constitutional posts. The age of retirement of High Court and Supreme Court judges could be increased. This had already been recommended by the Constitution Review Committee.

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