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Tamil Nadu

Lawyers should not resort to strikes: Judge

Special Correspondent

Lays foundation stone for Rs.4.4-crore Combined Court Building at Gudiyatham

— Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

UNDER ONE ROOF: Justice M. Chockalingam, Madras High Court Judge (centre), laying the foundation for the combined court building in Gudiyatham on Saturday.

GUDIYATHAM: “Law is a noble profession, and lawyers should not forget that they are part of the judiciary. Therefore they should not resort to strikes,” said Justice M. Chockalingam, Judge, Madras High Court, while laying the foundation stone for the Rs.4.40-crore Combined Court Building here on Saturday.

Mr. Justice Chockalingam said he was happy to note that the lawyers of Gudiyatham did not resort to strikes. The sub-court, judicial magistrate’s court and the district munsif’s court in Gudiyatham were functioning in three different places. This caused inconvenience to the lawyers and the litigants. The Combined Court Building which would be constructed in Gudiyatham would have all the three courts in one building. Mr. Justice Chockalingam hoped that the building work would be completed in time. Noting that the government had sanctioned Rs. 8 crore for the Combined Court Building which was getting ready in Sivaganga, he requested the Public Works Department and Law Minister Durai Murugan to sanction an additional sum of Rs.2.5 crore for the building in view of the need to construct lawyers’ chambers.

Presiding over the function, Mr. Durai Murugan said the government had constructed buildings and combined court buildings in several towns in Tamil Nadu in the last one year. The government had granted every request of the judiciary, be it the establishment of National Judicial Academy, the construction of combined court buildings or the establishment of new courts. District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate courts were established in several places in 2007-08. The government had sanctioned the appointment of two more Judges for the Madras High Court in response to a plea from the Chief Justice. Sivaganga had attained self-sufficiency as far as the judicial infrastructure is concerned.

A combined court building would be constructed at Ilayangudi soon, Mr. Durai Murugan said.

Responding to the request of K. Venkataraman, Judge, Madras High Court, for steps to construct a combined court building in Arakkonam, Mr. Durai Murugan said the site would be identified soon along with the Judges of the Madras High Court for the building. The foundation would be laid before August 15. A guest house for judicial officers would be constructed in Gudiyatham. Besides, a sum of Rs.52 lakh had been sanctioned for the construction of two quarters for judicial officers in Gudiyatham. Judicial officers’ quarters would be built also in Ambur, Tenkasi, Valliyur, Arakkonam, Tiruchi and Kangeyam, he said.

Justice R. Sudhakar, Judge, Madras High Court, said the State government had sanctioned Rs.300 crore at the rate of Rs.100 crore a year for the next three years to the judiciary in response to a plan submitted by the High Court for the construction of court buildings and to meet other expenditure of the High Court and subordinate courts in the districts.

Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, Collector, called upon the advocates to cooperate with the judiciary in the speedy disposal of cases, especially civil cases. Many litigants sold their property to fight cases. Therefore, it was the social responsibility of the advocates to facilitate the rendering of early justice to the litigants by giving up the practice of boycotting courts, he said.

N. Sivaraj, member, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council, requested the government to allot 20 per cent of the revenue from court fees to the Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Welfare Fund to enable the Bar Council to enhance the grant given to the families of deceased lawyers and to implement various other welfare schemes for the advocates.

Superintending Engineer, PWD, Vellore, A. Natarajan said the three-storeyed combined court building in Gudiyatham would house the judicial magistrate’s court, district munsif’s court and the sub-court. P. Ramakrishnan, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Vellore, welcomed the gathering.

S. Sambathkumar, president, Bar Association, Gudiyatham, S. Ravi, president, Advocates’ Association, Gudiyatham, and D. Anandan, president, Lawyers’ Association, Gudiyatham, spoke. D. Arulraj, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Vellore, proposed a vote of thanks.

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