Madurai
The best way to reach out to the people was through one’s mother tongue, said Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee at a book release of the Tamil translation of former Madras High Court Judge Prabha Sridevan’s ‘Of Vineyard Equality’, here on Saturday.
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee while speaking on the importance of mother tongue said that once when she was asked to preside over a function organised by a Bengali association, she was asked to address in Bengali so that everyone could follow. She said the Tamil version would reach out to the common man.
“Prabha akka was a distinguished judge and is a good human being. She has touched upon the importance of woman, third gender, downtrodden and their rights”, she said speaking of former Judge Prabha Sridevan.
Speaking on the rights for the downtrodden, Ms Indira Banerjee said that she was deeply saddened to read news reports on deaths as a result of manual scavenging, including the recent incident in Coimbatore. Were the protective gears provided, she asked and stated that the State should ensure that this was not repeated.
She said that sensitisation should begin at home. Children should be treated equally and brought up to respect equality, she said.
There should be a service-oriented approach in judiciary so that those in need of justice can knock on the doors to get it. Justice should be in quality and should not be hurried. Justice hurried is justice buried, she said.
On a lighter note, Ms. Indira Banerjee said that she was the proud captain of the Madras High Court Women’s team, including a 12th woman, pointing out that there were a total of 12 women judges, the highest in the country.
“Prabha akka was the fifth woman to become the judge of the Madras High Court. She will be proud with the increase in the number of women judges”, she said adding that she was hopeful that the gender imbalance in judiciary would be set right in the near future.
Former Supreme Court Judge F.M. Ibrahim Kalifullah speaking at the event said that righteousness should begin at home and practised in every household.
Justice C.T.Selvam, who received the first copy of the book from Ms. Banerjee, picked up excerpts from the book and read out their importance.
Former Judge Prabha Sridevan said she was happy and touched by the gesture shown by the fellow judges and appreciated Sampath for his efforts in authoring the Tamil version of her book.
Former IPS officer N.Chenbagaraman welcomed.