CHENNAI : Increasing court delays and legal expenses are a cause of concern that require to be addressed, Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, Chief Justice, Madras High Court, said on Wednesday.Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Egmore Court Complex, she said that the Bar and the bench have to work in tandem to address the issue.
CV Shanmugham, Minister for Law, Courts and Prisons, Vineet Kothari, Judge, Madras High Court and AK Viswanathan, Commissioner of Police, Chennai, were among those present.
The Egmore courts were closed in 2015 and moved to Moore Market Complex temporarily to facilitate the construction of buildings.
Constructed in the Indo- Saracenic architecture, the five-storeyed building will have 12 metropolitan magistrate courts along with Bar associations, working halls and legal aid clinics. The entire building has been constructed at a cost of `26.28 crores by the PWD . Work on the construction was completed in July.
Justice Vineet Kothari said “The richer section can wait and afford even a luxurious litigation, it is the poor and deprived section to whom we should reach out and it is the bounden duty of both lawyers and judges to ensure that not only expeditious and speedy justice is delivered to them, but they also feel and sense that justice is done to them.”
He further added that, the inauguration of the building at Egmore, where about 14 to 17 courts working in different premises, either rented or leased by the State, for which about `20 lakh of monthly rent was being paid by the courts, will now start working in this building, facilitating access to justice in a real sense.