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Home , Aavin, Chengalpattu, Madhavaram, Tiruvallur

INAUGURATION OF DISTRICT MUNSIF-CUM-JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE COURT AT , DISTRICT 4th September, 2019

My colleagues, Brother Justice K. Ravichandra Baabu, Brother Justice N. Sathish Kumar, Judges of the and Portfolio Judges for , Thiru. P. Benjamin, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Industries, Government of , Thiru. K. Pandiarajan, Hon’ble Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture & Archaeology, , Dignitaries off the dais, Thiru. J. Selvanadhan, Principal District & Sessions Judge, Tiruvallur, Tmt. M. Shirijha, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tiruvallur, Tmt. R. Seethalakshmi, IAS, District Collector, , Dr. A.K. Viswanathan, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Chennai, Thiru.P.S.Amalraj, Chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, Thiru. M.Jayaseelan, President, Madhavaram Advocates’ Association, Thiru. R. Elumalai, Secretary, Madhavaram Advocates’ Association, Judicial Officers, Presidents & Secretaries of various Bar Associations, Respected Senior Advocates, Members of the Bar, Ladies and Gentlemen,

MAALAI VANAKKAM

It is my privilege and honour to inaugurate the District Munsif- cum-Judicial Magistrate’s Court at Madhavaram in Tiruvallur.

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Madhavaram is synonymous with the Dairy Industry in this part of the State. The first ever Dairy Farm of Chennai was set up here by the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Federation () under the name

Madhavaram Milk Colony.

As regards the judicial setup in Tiruvallur District, the oldest record dates back to the suit register of the year 1868 maintained by the Munsif Court at Tiruvallur. The first entry in that Suit Register relates to O.S. No.55 of 1868, which was filed by one Vinayagam

Chettiyar against Kabali Chetty for recovery of Rs. 124.7 Paise and 6

Annas.

After being carved out of from in the year 2000,

Tiruvallur now has nearly 40 courts in almost all major taluks in the

District.

Pursuant to the 13th Finance Commission Recommendations and the decision taken at the Chief Ministers/Chief Justices Conference to set up additional courts to try petty cases, clear the backlog and to relieve pressure on judicial time, the High Court sent proposals to the

State Government to constitute Special Magistrate Courts with civil powers in 51 Taluks across Tamil Nadu where no court was hitherto functioning.

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The State Government, vide Government Order 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. Pursuant thereto, under the First Phase, financial sanction was given for constitution of 17 Special Magistrate Courts with civil powers to try petty cases, which includes one here at

Madhavaram. The nomenclature of the courts was later changed as

“District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate Courts”, instead of “Sp ecial

Magistrate Courts with Civil Powers to try petty cases”.

Before this court was constituted at Madhavaram, civil cases arising from the territorial jurisdiction of this taluk were being tried by the District Munsif Court, and criminal cases were being tried by the Judicial Magistrate Court, Tiruvottiyur.

On 9.8.2019, 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.

In order to define the jurisdiction of the newly constituted court at Madhavaram and to re-define the jurisdiction of the existing

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Judicial Magistrate Court, Tiruvottiyur, Notifications were published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette and in the Tiruvallur District

Gazette.

After receiving the Readiness Report from the Principal District

& Sessions Judge, Tiruvallur, the court is being inaugurated today.

Reputation of any institution depends not only on the stone walls making up that institution, but upon the men and women adorning it, and the noble work carried out by them is talked about by generations that follow.

Courts of law, otherwise known as Temples of Justice, are such institutions to which people look up with faith, expectation and hope.

The contribution of institutions of law is that they provide stability to social welfare. But this stability is not to remain static or stagnant. As observed by Chief Justice Aharon Barak of Israel, “Like the eagle in the sky that maintains its stability only when it is moving, so too is law, stable only when it is moving”. The judges and the lawyers are expected to keep laws moving by using their geniuses to interpret laws in the best manner possible.

If courts are temples of justice, lawyers are its pillars. If the pillars are not strong, the temples will be on shaky ground and may

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fall. It is for this reason that the role of lawyers is recognized under

Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which stipulates that no person shall be denied right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.

Legal profession is a noble and service-oriented profession.

Advocates are essentially architects of the legal process, responsible for establishing and vindicating rights of the civilized society, and are rightfully termed Social Engineers. Mahatma Gandhi said that a true lawyer is one who puts truth and service in the first place. On their own, lawyers do not lay down the law, but help courts to mould the law and achieve the results.

Lawyers and judges are part of one family, a fraternity united with the sole aim of dispensing justice and serving the society. United we stand in achieving this avowed objective and divided we fall. A strong Bar and a strong Judiciary are essential for the maintenance of the rule of law. The Bench is the next level of the Bar, and neither the

Bench nor the Bar by itself can secure justice to the people.

Litigation these days is growing at an exponential rate, but judicial infrastructure is expanding at a very slow pace. This provides opportunity to judicial officers and advocates to apply their

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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.

Judiciary is doing everything to augment the existing infrastructure to cope up with litigation explosion. Slowly but steadily, we have been adding new courts to the existing ones, like the one here at Madhavaram. And there are more in the pipeline. In this behalf, the State Government is extending full co-operation, and we appreciate them for that.

Wherever I go, especially in the subordinate judiciary, I find quite a few young lawyers, men and women alike, with dreams in their eyes and aspirations writ large on their face. Many of them might not have tasted success and are still struggling to find their feet in this demanding profession. My only advice to you is to work hard, gain sufficient knowledge of laws and try to learn from seniors. Always endeavour to be the best in the profession, and you would do a world of good to your prospects.

Society expects much more and better from the legal fraternity.

It is, therefore, incumbent upon each one of us, including Judges,

Advocates and all other stakeholders, to rise to the occasion and

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deliver to the best of our abilities, which will ultimately enhance the quality of our justice delivery system as a whole, and that would be a definite step towards timely justice.

While thanking you for giving me an opportunity to be amidst you and share my thoughts, I congratulate the judicial officers and the Bar

Association of Madhavaram for getting a court in their own headquarters. I wish all of you good luck in your future endeavours.

NANDRI, VANAKKAM.

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