Puducherry: Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Saturday urged the judicial officers to show commitment to work.
Inaugurating a two-day State-level conference on ‘Legal service: Alternative Dispute Resolutions, Past Performance and Effective Implementation in Future’ organised here jointly by the Tamilnadu State and Union Territory of Puducherry Legal Services Authorities, Justice Kaul said he wanted to do plain speaking which is important.
He said the judges from higher to lower courts must show commitment to work. He said, “The essential part in work commitment is to sit in the court for period of time the court has fixed to hold judicial processes.”
He appealed to judicial officers to ensure that the task assigned to them is followed. The apex court judge said, “Wherever possible, judges could resort to mediation process making sure that older cases were decided on extreme priority basis.”
Cases which are 50 years old in trial courts or 20 years old are absolutely fit cases for mediation, he said. Efforts should be made to encourage mediation as a mode of settlement, he said.
“It is my firm belief that to deal with the kind and quantum of litigation in the courts, no adjudicatory process can possibly finalise the cases,” he said.
He further said the adjournment culture should change and cases should be decided within a time-frame. The judge said, “The Lok Adalat and other alternative disputes system would help us and they should be encouraged.”
Also, he inaugurated the Motor Accident Mediation Cells for all the districts of Tamilnadu and Puducherry on the occasion.
He said he was happy that mediation cells were now in place as a mode of settlement. Judge of the Madras High Court Dr Justice Vineet Kothari, who is the executive chairman of Tamilnadu State Legal Services Authority, and judge of the Madras High Court Justice S Manikumar, who is executive chairman of Union Territory of Puducherry Legal Services Authority, also spoke.