SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Judicial Academy organized a one-day interactive program on “order/judgment writing, application of the law, sharing best practices, and finding solutions to practical problems faced by them in justice delivery” for Civil Judges (Junior Division) of Kashmir Province. The program was inaugurated by Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, and Patron-in-Chief, J&K Judicial Academy, Justice N Kotiswar Singh. The program aims to provide a platform for Civil Judges to exchange ideas and share experiences as well as learn techniques from experts in the field of law.
Yash Paul Bourney, Registrar Vigilance, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, M K Sharma, Director, J&K Judicial Academy, and Jatinder Singh Jamwal, Special Judge, Anti-Corruption (CBI Cases), Srinagar, were the resource persons for the program.
Delivering the inaugural address, the Chief Justice stated that it is the primary duty of a Judge to write a judgment understandable by a litigant and not for the higher courts. All focus must be on the litigant who has come for justice, he said, adding that judgment should be clear, lucid, and with good reasoning. He said the application of mind is important to make any decision because we are dealing with human sufferings. For a good judgment, the facts of the case should be properly marshaled, and the law should be applied with clear reasons for accepting or rejecting any claim of the litigant, he asserted.
The Chief Justice emphasized that judges are like architectural designers while deciding a case. Though in criminal cases, the charge-sheet is the basis for decision, the facts of the case must be taken care of while deciding the case, he added.
Justice Sindhu Sharma, Chairperson, J&K Judicial Academy, in her special address, while quoting a Greek Philosopher, said that the qualities of a judge are to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially. She emphasized that while deciding a case and writing a judgment, a judge must consider the arguments and claims put forth by the parties. Further quoting Justice H.K. Sema, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, she said that the judgment is best when given with reasons. While quoting Justice R.C. Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India, she said that while writing a judgment, don’t go into the verbosity of the document.
She also deliberated that a litigant must understand why a case is in his favor or against, that should come out from the judgment. The basic factors that should be considered are to maintain integrity while passing a decision, and it should not be influenced by any other matter, including our own prejudices and biases. We have to consider the facts while writing a judgment, that it should be based on the provision of law, the aspect on which we are doing, and how we are going to write the judgment.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Member, J&K Judicial Academy, in his special address, citing the case of Barender Kumar Gosh, said that the trial Judge quoted from the sonnet ‘On His Blindness’ of a famous English poet John Milton, i.e., “They also serve who only stand and wait,” while turning the plea of innocence of Barender Kumar Gosh in a robbery and murder case, quoting that even if you were a guard at the door, you were still guilty of the crime for taking no action.
Justice Wani, citing another recent judgement of the Supreme Court of India, said, while quoting Justice Roslyn Atkinson, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, that there are various purposes for any judgement that is written, such as spelling out the judge’s own thoughts, explaining the decision to the parties, communicating the reasons for the decision to the public, and providing reasons for an appeal to consider. He added that every judgement has to have various basic elements, such as a statement of material (relevant) facts, legal issues or questions, deliberation to reach a decision, and the ratio or conclusive decision.
Director of J&K Judicial Academy, M.K. Sharma, in his welcome address, underscored the importance of organizing this program. 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.
The day-long interactive program was divided into two technical sessions and an interactive session for feedback.
The first technical session was chaired by Yash Paul Bourney, Registrar Vigilance, and M.K. Sharma, Director of J&K Judicial Academy, who analyzed the art of order/judgment writing and application of the law.
The second technical session was chaired by Jatinder Singh Jamwal, Special Judge, Anti-Corruption (CBI Cases), who shared best practices and finding solutions to practical problems faced by Civil Judges (Junior Division) in justice delivery.
The interactive program concluded with a session during which the participants deliberated and discussed various aspects of the subject topic and raised queries that were satisfactorily settled by the resource persons. (KNO)
