J&K Judicial Academy, under the patronage of Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, (Patron-in-Chief, J&K Judicial Academy) and stewardship of Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Chairperson, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy and guidance of Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Justice Rahul Bharti and Justice Moksha Kazmi, members of Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy, organized one day workshop on “Civil Trials” for Civil Judges both Senior and Junior Division of Jammu Province at J&K Judicial Academy, Janipur, Jammu.
The training programme was inaugurated by Justice Rahul Bharti, Member, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy in presence of Rajinder Saproo, Registrar Rules, High Court of J&K and Ladakh and Rajeev Gupta, Judicial Member, J&K Special Tribunal, Jammu who also happen to be the resource persons in the workshop.
Justice Rahul Bharti, in his inaugural address, highlighted that all focus must be on the litigant who has come for justice. The judgment should be clear, lucid and with sound reasoning. He quoted, “As you know better, you do better.” He exhorted upon the judicial officers to learn CPC and CrPC more seriously and deeply as these are the machines of law and judicial officers are the mechanics of these machines.
He highlighted that one of the main causes of delay in litigation is the Judge himself because a committed judge cuts the delay. Justice Bharti emphasised that the judges must reckon themselves as physicians as they are treating the litigating masses on the legal side.
He said that application of mind is important to make any decision as we are dealing with human sufferings. He shared many real-life examples and made request to the judicial officers to regard their duty not as a mere job but as the most graced profession.
Y.P.Bourney, Director, J&K Judicial Academy, presented the welcome address and gave an overview of the programme. He said the administration of justice is a heavenly function entrusted to the mortals. He highlighted the challenges being faced in terms of huge pendency and backlog of cases and that society has high expectations from them.
He also highlighted the importance of examining the parties at the initial stage of trial i.e. before settlement of issues for twin reasons; to zero down on the core of the dispute and explore the existence of the elements of settlement for adopting the appropriate mode.
The first and second technical sessions were chaired by Rajeev Gupta who educated the participants about the importance of Section 89 CPC and examination of parties under order X CPC which has been introduced with the sole object of empowering and involving the parties for the amicable and effective resolution so as to restore peace and harmony.
He also discussed about case management hearing in terms of order XV-A and procedure in suits by or against the Government under section 79, 80 CPC (Order XXVII), by or against minor and person with unsound mind in terms of order XXXII, relating to matters concerning family in reference to order XXXII-A, and by indigent person in terms of order XXXIII.
In third and fourth technical sessions, Rajinder Saproo delved upon the importance of identification of issues and recording of findings thereon separately in terms of order XIV including recording and appreciation of evidence. The learned resource person also deliberated on the art of writing judgment and Summary Judgment under Order XIII-A.
He said that writing judgments and orders is virtually an art and often varies from judge to judge as no form or format has been provided in law as to how judgments and orders should be written by the judges.
All the sessions were interactive during which the participants actively participated and shared their experiences, and discussed various aspects of the subject topics. They also raised a number of queries which were answered satisfactorily by the resource persons.