Ensure each district has a family court: SC judge to state CJs

: Supreme Court Judge Justice Kurian Joseph today urged Chief Justices of High Courts to take immediate steps to ensure that every district in a state has at least one family court, to help easy access to justice and speedy disposal of matrimonial disputes. He was delivering the inaugural address at the fourth regional conference on "Sensitisation of Family Court Matters" organised here for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Justice Joseph also said that judges in family courts should possess a sixth sense to find the epicentre of family disputes and take appropriate action. "Family court judges should possess a sixth sense, to find out the epicentre of matrimonial disputes.

They are like homoeopathy doctors, who unlike allopathy doctors, prescribe treatment based on the constitution and special features of the patients," he added. "The primary objective of family courts is not to decide disputes, but to promote conciliation and secure speedy settlement," the judge said. In her address, Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice Indira Banerjee said preservation of family as an institution is important for the country and added that family court judges must take their work very seriously. She called upon family court judges to never give up on the scope for settlement, as it would happen at any stage of the case. "But you must also understand that in cases where there are no scope for settlement, mere procrastination of cases would only increase the agony of the parties," she added. Justice Banerjee also stressed that matters of maintenance and custody of child be dealt with expeditiously and with sensitivity. Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand, Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel and Tamil Nadu Advocate-General Vijay Narayan also spoke.

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