The court must, at all times, speak in a unified voice against injustice and inequality and must do everything in its power to defend the undefended and the oppressed, Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph has said.
Delivering the third M.K. Nambyar law lecture 2018 at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kalamassery, here on Saturday, Mr. Joseph said the Bar and the Bench should be united in the attempt to achieve the goals set out in the Preamble.
“We must remember that law is meant for protection of the rights of the people and the judiciary can never appear to be powerless and helpless in discharging its role of realisation of these very laws,” he said.
Stating that every case deals with lives of people and no case before the court is too small, Mr. Joseph said: “It is important to remember that for every litigant, his case has the power to transform his life — a motor accident claim can provide the much needed help to a widow and her children; a labour matter can provide a worker the dues for the services he has provided for his entire career; a land acquisition matter can give the landowner a just value for his hard-earned land. I will urge all judges and lawyers to handle cases from this perspective,” he said.
Mr. Joseph said the court’s job in uplifting these sections of society would not be completed as long as social, economic and political inequalities existed.
“Judges and lawyers must remember the enormity of the task they are entrusted with. After working on countless cases, there is a tendency to treat cases only in terms of civil/criminal appeal numbers and citations. We look at decisions solely in terms of precedents. What is forgotten is the human aspect of the case,” he said.
Mr. Joseph lamented that a significant population in the country continued to be oppressed on account of poverty, social inequalities and other disadvantages even seven decades after independence.
“Certainly, the legislature and the executive have an obligation to institutionally eradicate these disadvantages. However, this should not stop the judiciary from addressing the challenges faced by the oppressed groups when they approach the court,” he said. The judge pointed out that it was the constitutional duty of the judiciary to guard fundamental rights.
Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court and Rose Varghese, Vice Chancellor of National University of Advanced Legal Studies spoke.