Social justice is the quintessential of the Indian justice system and it is the responsibility of each member of the legal fraternity to uphold it; otherwise the element of humanisation would disappear from society.”
This was very emphatically explained by Justice Kurian Joseph of the Supreme Court of India while speaking on social justice here on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the Viswanath Pasayat birth centenary celebrations on Friday.
Calling upon the lawyers’ community to take up the causes of weaker sections of the society and respond to them proactively, Justice Joseph emphasised that it is also responsibility of the courts to rededicate in establishing a just society in the country.
Joining the occasion, Justice SK Singh, also of the SC, spoke on access to justice. He said all stakeholders of the justice delivery system must do a serious introspection to improve the quality and provide a meaningful access to justice for all.
“lawyers should not only remain as the proverbial ‘other wheel’ of the chariot or trustees of their clients for monetary benefit. Instead, lawyers should be pro bono to undertake the profession voluntarily and without payment or at reduced fee in the public interest,” Justice Singh opined. Among others, Northern Ireland Consul in India lord Diljit Rana, former judge of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice MN Rao and former CJ of Jharkhand High Court MK Vinaygam spoke on the occasion in the presence of a large gathering of legal luminaries, including the present and former judges of the Odisha High Court.