KOCHI: Referring to the recent cash-for-verdict scam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Bar Council should ensure transparency in legal profession. Inaugurating the scheme to provide stipend to junior lawyers at the High Court Auditorium in Kochi, he said the recent incidents stress the need for better intervention of Bar Council to stop degeneration of values in the profession.
“We had a tradition of lawyers intervening to stop denial of justice. Such intervention helped to give preference to compassion over financial consideration. We have to introspect whether this tradition has been replaced by new tendencies,” the chief minister said.
The appointment of judicial officers should be made by ensuring that the freedom and powers of judiciary are given due respect. Care should be taken to improve the confidence of the public in the judiciary, he said. Ensuring ethics among lawyers and increasing the number of courts are important to ensure timely delivery of justice, the CM said.
He said the decision to provide stipend to junior lawyers was part of the state government’s policy to ensure welfare to all. Bar Council chairman K N Anilkumar presided over the function. High Court Chief Justice S Manikumar, Law Minister P Rajeeve, Advocate General K Gopalakrishna Kurup, Bar Council secretary Joseph John and treasurer K K Nasar spoke on the occasion.