Call for Change in Bench, Bar

CUTTACK: Justice Dipak Mishra of Supreme Court on Friday emphasised on change in both the Bench and Bar to cope with changing times.

These are transformational times with growth and greater availability of information, technology and globalisation. The Bench and the Bar are expected to rise to the occasion and each has to change and adapt with changing times, he said.

Delivering the second Law lecture on ‘Law-Justice-Society: Role of Bar and Bench to strengthen the chord’ during the second annual day celebrations of The Lawyers’ Academy of Odisha (TLAO), Justice Mishra said if the Bar and Bench stand together, they can serve the country better than any institution.

“If these two institutions fall apart, the justice delivery will suffer. Closest possible harmony between the Bar and Bench can yield the best results in achieving the objectives as enshrined in the Constitution,” he contended.

He called upon the Bar to be pro-active in achieving the concept of access to justice. The advocates should make themselves service and society-oriented. It is the lawyer in various capacities who can see that rights in the Constitution and legislations of natural rights do not become dead letters. It is for them to keep the legal infrastructure for flourishing rights principles and machinery for their enforcement in place.

Justice Mishra also said, “To ensure justice to the voiceless, we need an independent judiciary and legal profession for promoting and protecting human rights. It is the lawyer and the judge who live up to the occasion when human rights are violated and democracy faces unacceptable leniency.”

Among others, Chief Justice DH Waghela of Orissa High Court, Advocate General and Chairperson, TLAO SP Mishra, executive director, TLAO Jagabandhu Sahoo, chairperson, reception committee Milan Kanungo and director, TLAO Kailash Chandra Kar also spoke.