COIMBATORE: Justice S Vaidyanathan of Madras High Court virtually inaugurated a special court in the cadre of district judges for the trial of cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989, in Coimbatore on Saturday.
Addressing the event, Justice S Vaidyanathan said that there is a shortage of judicial officers and staff members at various levels throughout the state. “With the delegate position, the bar is very fortunate to have a special court in Coimbatore. Advocates should cooperate with the presiding officers to dispose of the many cases. The advocates must ensure that the court hours are not wasted and court proceedings are not disturbed at any cost,” he said.
“Every judicial officer should discharge their duty with integrity, honesty and devotion which are like shields. In a democratic society, if people lose faith in the justice delivery system, there will be confusion and chaos and the entire system will come to a standstill. Fearless and impartial justice is the foundation of democracy,” he said.
Justice K Murali Shankar, of Madras High Court, said, “We are moving towards the artificial intelligence (AI) era from the computer age. Caste discrimination incidents will create a fear that we were not going on the right path.”
He added that the court inaugurated in Coimbatore was the 18th special court in the state to deal with the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act cases. “Around 6,500 SC/ST cases are pending before the courts in the state,” he added.
Madras High Court Judges S Sathi Kumar and SS Sundar, Principal District and sessions judge G Vijaya, Coimbatore district collector Kranthi Kumar Pati, Commissioner of Police V Balakrishnan and Superintendent of Police V Badrinarayanan took part in the event.
A case against Coimbatore district BJP president Balaji Uthamaramasamy for his derogatory speech against DMK MP A Raja and Social reformer Periyar EV Ramasamy came to hearing as the first case. The police submitted the charge sheet before the court and a copy was served to Uthamaramasamy, police said.