Mail News Service
Imphal, Sep 15 : The closing function of the Year Long Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the All Manipur Bar Association was held today at Cheirap.Governor Gurbhachan Jagat, Minister I Hemochandra, Justice T Nandakumar and others attended the function.
The Governor said “ The primary objective in setting up this Association was to help in ushering in a more just society in Manipur and helping in dispensing of justice to all.
The legal fraternity is not only there to argue cases in court but it has a far bigger role. The work of this fraternity begins with the introduction of Bills in Parliament, the debates in Parliament and outside the Parliament, the response of various civil societies to certain Acts being proposed or those which have already been passed and finally to actively engage themselves in these discussions in the forums that are available to them. The Bar Associations are in the unique position of initiating such debates and dialogues and make suggestions to the State and Central Governments through their elected representatives or through the media or by directly meeting the concerned representatives of the Government. The Bar Association should be constantly holding Seminars, Workshops, etc on subjects of topical importance which impact even the common man. The common man is not aware of the intricacies of the various Bills in Assemblies and Parliament or the various Acts that have been passed, especially in the field of social legislation and the taxation regime which have a direct impact on their daily lives.
An active Bar Association should also hold Workshops and Seminars where distinguished legal experts from different specializations can come and participate along with retired Supreme Court and High Court Justices and top known lawyers of various Bar Associations. This would go a long way to educate the younger Members of the Bar Association and also nudge the senior Advocates to keep updating their knowledge.
There is another field in which they can play an important part and that is in rendering help to poor litigants. There are various rules and regulations regarding admission of BPLstudents in Schools and Colleges in various professions, in hospitals, etc, but these are more often flouted than
followed. I would request this Association to deal with this problem, through their clinics, etc. Litigation is an expensive affair and begins with villagers coming from some outlying areas of the State spending money on travel and lodging, payment to those representing them and then these cases can carry on for years if not decades. This will really be a major step in social upliftment of the poor. Another area where initiatives of the Bar Association could prove to be very useful, especially in troubled States is in conflict resolution. The Bar Association normally enjoys great respect amongst common people and various organizations and if it takes the lead in conflict resolution also, it would be serving a great National purpose.
We are in a situation today where investigation levels of Police all over the country has gone down abysmally. Standards of prosecution are even poorer but I would not like to comment on the state of the third pillar of the system. The common man has almost lost faith in the criminal justice system and has started resorting to various unfair practices in order to achieve his objectives, that is, through corruption or extraneous influences. We have reached a stage where local people even in Manipur have started destroying houses of suspects and lynching them even before the Police reaches the spot. This is a matter of great concern and has to be taken up at all levels because providing security of life and property is one of the basic functions of the State.”
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/bar-assn-can-bring-changes-guv/
