Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Judge calls for special courts to deal with offences against women, children

MADURAI: Supreme Court judge P. Sathasivam on Saturday requested the State government to establish special courts in every district to exclusively deal with offences against women and children. He was of the view that such courts would help in speedy disposal of cases related to rape, dowry harassment and kidnapping of children.

The request was made at a function organised here to lay foundation stones for a regional centre of Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy here and a new building for Alternative Dispute Resolution inside the district court campus besides the inauguration of a mega Lok Adalat (people's court) on the Madras High Court Bench premises.

In his address, Chief Justice of Madras High Court M. Yusuf Eqbal said that it was an accepted fact that the infrastructure for the judiciary was poor across the country and Tamil Nadu was no exception. However, he commended the State government for having acted speedily in according sanction for the construction of the regional judicial academy.

“The Central government had allotted Rs.15 crore for improving the infrastructure at the judicial academy at Chennai. Since that academy is already there, I thought this amount can be better utilised by establishing two regional centres in Madurai and Coimbatore. The total estimate came to around Rs.17 crore and we requested the State government to bear the excess amount. The proposal was sent to the government only on December 6 and the government was prompt in passing an order on December 9, within three days. I appreciate the gesture of the government of Tamil Nadu and also express my thanks for immediately responding to the request,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin promised that the State government was “always ready and willing to fulfil the needs and requirements of the judiciary and legal fraternity to the extent possible and at the earliest point of time.” “Otherwise, delayed justice and increase in backlog of cases might lead to lack of confidence among people on judicial forums and the rule of law. We should not give way for such a situation,” Mr. Stalin said. Judge Elipe Dharma Rao requested the government to provide air-conditioned cars to District Judges besides clearing the shortage of public prosecutors in lower courts.

Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla said that 804 judges, including 172 District Judges, and 19,214 employees of the subordinate judiciary had benefited from 272 training sessions conducted by the judicial academy in Chennai since its inauguration in 2001. He added that 287 judges and 5,496 court staff in 13 districts under the jurisdiction of Madurai Bench would be benefited by the regional academy.

Law Minister Durai Murugan listed out various projects carried out pursuant to an announcement by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in the Legislative Assembly in April 2007 allocating Rs.300 crore for the judiciary. In her welcome address, Justice R. Banumathi said the State government had always maintained a cordial relationship with the judiciary. Justice P. Jyothimani proposed a vote of thanks.

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