INAUGURATION of DISTRICT MUNSIF-CUM-JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE COURT at EDAPPADI, SALEM DISTRICT EDAPPADI 18Th August, 2019 Thiru
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INAUGURATION OF DISTRICT MUNSIF-CUM-JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE COURT AT EDAPPADI, SALEM DISTRICT EDAPPADI 18th August, 2019 Thiru. Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Hon’ble Mr. Justice M.M. Sundresh, Judge, High Court, Madras and Portfolio Judge for Salem District, Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan, Judge, High Court, Madras, Thiru. C.Ve. Shanmugam, Hon’ble Minister for Law, Courts, Prisons, Mines & Minerals, Government of Tamil Nadu, Mr. S. Kumaraguru, Principal District & Sessions Judge, Salem, Mr. T. Munusamy, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Salem, Thiru. S.A. Raman, District Collector, Salem, Dr. S. Deepa Ganiger, Superintendent of Police, Salem, Thiru. K.R.R. Aiyyappamani and Thiru. D. Saravanan, Members, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, Thiru. V. Anandan, Advocate, Edappadi Bar Association, Thiru. S. Senthilmurugan, Additional Public Prosecutor-cum- Government Pleader, Sankari, Dignitaries off the dais, Judicial Officers, Respected Senior Advocates, Members of the Bar, Ladies and Gentlemen, ANAIVARUKKUM VANAKKAM The Duke of Rutland said, “Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die, but leave us still with our old nobility”. Wealth, 1 Commerce, Learning and Law may not keep an institution alive, but it is the nobility, greatness and stability of an institution which makes it stand tall as a monument of respect, honour and pride. It is my proud privilege and honour to inaugurate the District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate’s Court at Edappadi, Salem District. Opening of this court here fulfills a long standing need of the litigants and advocates from this area. It has made the task of various agencies, including the police, easier. Opening of this court is a big step towards access to justice for the litigants. The name Edappadi has become synonymous by none other than the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is the son of this soil, who has proudly carried the name of his home town as a prefix to his personal name. Edappadi is the second largest town in Salem District. The town was once known for its thriving powerloom industry, but it has now diversified into various other fields which include agriculture, heavy vehicle transport, granites, textiles and foundry. Coming to the judicial set up, this is the first court to start functioning in the town of Edappadi. Elsewhere in Salem District, 2 besides the courts at the Headquarters, there are courts in Attur (Aathoor), Sankagiri, Mettur, Vaalappaadi and Omalur Taluks. Pursuant to the 13th Finance Commission Recommendations, a policy decision was taken to set up additional courts for improving the Justice Delivery System under the name "Morning / Evening / Special Magistrates / Shift Courts" to try petty cases, clear the backlog and to relieve pressure on judicial time, the High Court sent proposals to the Government for constitution of Special Magistrate Courts with civil powers in 51 Taluks across Tamil Nadu where no court was hitherto functioning. The State Government, vide G.O. dated 6.4.2017, accorded administrative sanction for constitution of 51 Special Magistrate Courts with civil powers, to try petty cases in 51 Taluks of the State, in three phases, from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, i.e. 17 courts in each phase. Under Phase-I, financial sanction was given for constitution of 17 Special Magistrate Courts with civil powers to try petty cases, which includes one Court at Edappadi in Salem District. Subsequently, the nomenclature of these Courts was changed as “District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate Courts”, instead of “Special Magistrate Courts with Civil Powers to try petty cases”. 3 On 13.05.2019, the Government issued Notifications under Sections 4 and 10 of the Tamil Nadu Civil Courts Act, 1873 and under Section 11(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 constituting this Court. Before the court was constituted here, civil cases arising from the territorial jurisdiction of Edappadi were being tried by the District Munsif Court, Sankari, while criminal cases were tried by Judicial Magistrate Court No.II, Sankari. In order to define the jurisdiction of the newly constituted court and to re-define the jurisdiction of the existing Judicial Magistrate Court Nos.I and II, Sankari, Notifications were published respectively under Sections 5, 11, 12 and 28 of the Tamil Nadu Civil Courts Act, 1873 in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette and under Section 14 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in the Salem District Gazette. After receiving the Readiness Report from the Principal District & Sessions Judge, Salem, the court is being inaugurated today. Legal profession, to which we all belong, is noble and service- oriented. Society has legitimate expectations from the legal profession in general and the judiciary in particular, to gain access to 4 justice, in a speedy and efficacious manner. We are, therefore, under a legal obligation to deliver speedy justice to litigants. Access to justice means free and expeditious justice to every individual. It is thus apt to say that, “If a litigant is unable to gain access to a court of law or if the access is hampered by one way or the other, it implies that the laws that intended to protect him have failed in their purpose”. A lawyer is not merely a craftsman, or even an artist. He has a special role in our society. He is a professional especially ordained to perform at the crisis time of the life of other people. According to Mahatma Gandhiji, a true lawyer is one who puts truth and service in the first place. In his autobiography, Gandhiji observed, “Law is not an intellectual legerdemain to make black appear white and white appear black, but it is a ceaseless endeavour to enthrone justice”. Entry to legal profession does not require special qualification other than a Law Degree. However, the honour of a legal professional can be maintained only by how a lawyer conducts himself, not only inside the court, but also outside. As Officers of the Court, Advocates have an inherent obligation of assisting courts in a just and proper manner in the administration of justice. 5 It is axiomatic that judiciary cannot discharge its functions single-handedly and unless there is strong commitment and active participation of members of the bar. The efficiency of judicial administration largely depends upon the competence of the bar. Any measures taken by the judiciary would fall flat if there is no effective support from the members of the bar. That is why the role of the bar is of immense importance, and it is the collective efforts of the bar and bench to serve the society that makes the system shine like a star. It is, therefore, incumbent on the judges and lawyers to conduct themselves in a manner that fosters faith in the system. Our system must be able to withstand the test of “quantitative” and “qualitative” assessment. As I said at the start of my speech quoting the Duke of Rutland, the contribution of institutions of law is the stability they provide towards social welfare. However, this stability is not to remain static. Lawyers are expected to keep law in motion by using their geniuses to interpret law in its best way. But if you want things to stay the same, you must change. Today, litigation has increased by leaps and bounds, but judicial infrastructure is updated at an extremely slow pace and almost 6 negligible in proportion to the corresponding increase in litigation. This provides ample opportunity to judicial officers and advocates to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding of laws without compromising on their integrity and impartiality, to adopt out-of-the box techniques and try out alternatives for resolving disputes. The judiciary on its part is striving hard to improve the existing infrastructure so as to match the pace of litigation explosion. We are backing our words by coming up with new courts and corresponding facilities. The contribution of the State Government in this behalf cannot be undermined, and I thank the Hon’ble Chief Minister and the Hon’ble Law Minister for rendering huge support to the judiciary to augment its efforts in strengthening justice administration system. I find quite a few young lawyers here, who might still be in their nascent stage in the legal profession. To them, my advice is, work hard to gain in-depth knowledge of laws and try to learn from other fields as well. Somerset Maugham while observing about life said, “It is a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you often get it”. Same is true of legal profession. So don’t be a mere bread-winner, try to be the best in the profession. 7 I shall conclude by recollecting the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who once observed, “A small body of determined bar fired by an unquenched belief in the mission of reducing pendency of cases can alter the course of judiciary”. I urge the members of the bar to come forward to co-operate with the judiciary in order to turn the above words into reality. NANDRI, VANAKKAM. * * * * * 8 .