Two Days Regional Conference on ‘Contemporary Judicial Developments and strengthening Justice through Law and Technology’ commences at SKICC Srinagar

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 24: Justice A.S. Oka, Judge Supreme Court of India  today inaugurated Two-days North Zone-I Regional Conference on “Contemporary Judicial Developments and strengthening Justice through Law and Technology” at SKICC here in presence of Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Regional Conference is being organized by National Judicial Academy, Bohpal and hosted by the High court of J&K and Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir Judicial Academy.

Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, Judge High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh , Justice Sindhu Sharma, Judge High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Chairperson J&K Judicial Academy and  Justice A.P. Sahi, Director National Judicial Academy were also present on the occasion. 

The inaugural session was also attended by Justice Tashi Rabstan,   Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani,  Justice Mohammad Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi,  Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri, Judges of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh,  Judges of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Judicial Officers of the six High Courts. 

Advocate General, D.C. Raina; Additional Chief Secretary, Home R.K. Goel; DGP, Dilbag Singh;  Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Pandurang K.  Pole; Secretary, Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs,  Achal Sethi; Deputy Solicitor General of India, Tahir Shamsi, Registrar J&K High Court,  Sanjeev Gupta and other Officers of the Registry of High Court of J&K and Ladakh and  Director SKICC, Javed Humayun Bakshi, were also present on the occasion. 

Shahzad Azeem, Director, J&K Judicial Academy conducted the proceedings of the inaugural session of the programme.

In his inaugural address Justice A.S. Oka, Judge Supreme Court of India said, “Members of the Judiciary are answerable to the common man”. He impressed upon the judges to ensure that they function in a transparent way and advised them to be accept constructive criticism for ensuring productivity and efficiency.

In his welcome address, Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh said, “To rise to the practically achievable heights it is requisite that we make progress by leaps and bounds. It would be possible to do so only if we all join our heads together, put our best foot forward and devote our time and energy”. He also stressed the need to apply the technological advancements in earnest and reap the dividends of the development in Information and Communication development.

In his introductory address, Director, NJA, Justice A.S. Sahi gave an overview of the Conference and underlined the importance of the subject of the Conference in contemporary times. He also stressed that times are ripe to rekindle the hope of a bright and enlightened future. 

On the occasion, a Newsletter was released which highlighted the accomplishments and endeavours of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh and all institutions under its umbrella, for the period January 2021 to August 2022 

Justice Sindhu Sharma, Judge High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Chairperson, J&K Judicial Academy on the occasion proposed the Vote of thanks and described the objective of holding of the Conference as a progressive step in the direction of ensuring justice through Law and technology. She also exhorted that the Judiciary is committed to its sacrosanct obligation of maintaining the rule of law and achieving the objective of dispensing justice.

The first day of the Two-days North Zone Regional Conference witnessed three technical sessions. The first technical session on “Contemporary trends in constitutional Law: Recent Judicial Developments, Precedential value of High Court Judgments, Developments in Criminal Law; Issues & Challenges” and covered the subject on Judicial limits, Article 21 vis a vis Prohibition, Judiciary & Media and the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression” was chaired by Justice A.S. Oka, Judge Supreme Court of India in  presence of Justice Pankaj Mithal,  Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Justice A.P. Sahi, Director National Judicial Academy. N. Venkataraman (ASG) and  S. Shekhar Naphade (Sr Advocate), were the Resource Persons of the session.

The second technical session involved discourses on “Precedential value of High Court Judgments “including their persuasive and binding effect, Comity of Courts and Language by Resource Persons N. Venkataraman (ASG) and Prof. V.K. Dixit.

In the third session, Resource Persons Justice P.N. Prakash and Justice R. Basant discussed the “Developments in Criminal Law-Issues & Challenges” including Bail Jurisprudence, reverse burden of proof, provisions of PMLA and electronic evidence and global legal perspective.