Team News Riveting
Patna, February 27
Former joint secretary of the Advocates Association Mrs Chhaya Mishra on Saturday welcomed the inauguration of the Centenary Building of the Patna High Court by the chief justice of India, S A Bobde. She appreciated the efforts by the chief justice of Patna High Court to develop modern infrastructure in the new building and make the Shatabdi Bhawan, eco-friendly.
In a statement, the woman lawyer also thanked the chief justice for creating a separate lounge for the women lawyers in the new building. Last week, Chhaya Mishra had demanded separate seating arrangements for the women members.
However, she regretted silence of the speakers on the long pending demand for appointment of more judges in Patna High Court. She said the court at present was working with less than half of the sanctioned strength as only 21 honourable judges were hearing a large number of cases. Recommendations for appointment of new judges have reportedly been sent to the Supreme Court and later to the union government too to fill up the vacancies and ease the burden on the judges.
Mrs Chhaya Mishra also regretted no formal announcement regarding resumption of physical hearings was made as the digital filing of petitions and video conferencing were not much successful to the desired extent though 76 lakh cases have been heard during the Pandemic period in the country. She wished the CJI could have suggested restoration of physical hearing as the new building was much larger and can cope with the social distancing norms.
Chairman of the Bar Council of India was present at the inaugural ceremony. Since, he is considered the guardian and custodian of the lawyers fraternity and had earlier demanded physical hearing was expected to take up the cause today, but he too disappointed his brothers and sisters in the Bar.
She thanked the union law and justice minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad for his strong words against unruly sections of social media and ensuring protection of dignity to the judges who were being trolled. Misuse of social media to abuse judges is a crime in democracy too. Mrs Mishra also appreciated the chief minister, Nitish Kumar’s announcement for promising more to the judiciary from the state government.
