Madhya Pradesh HC holds Full Court Reference in memory of district judges

Bhopal: In a first in the country, the Madhya Pradesh High Court (MPHC) has taken the initiative of holding Full Court Reference in the memory of late judges of the district judiciary at all the benches of the MPHC paying homage to those judges who departed last year.

The legal fraternity on Thursday gathered at the principal seat of Jabalpur along with its Gwalior and Indore benches to offer condolences to sitting and retired judicial officers who passed away during 2021-22.

The event was presided over by Chief Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath, and the judges of MP High Court, Principal, District and Session judges of the respective jurisdictions of the MPHC benches took part in the condolence meetings.

“The last few years have been a witness to unprecedented and untimely losses. The loss of a judicial officer is a loss in our family of judges and advocates. It is with a deep sense of anguish and sorrow, that we pay our respects to the departed souls. The entire legal fraternity of Madhya Pradesh is with the families during these difficult times,” the Chief Justice of MPHC, Malimath said while addressing the gathering.

Justice Malimath is considered for bringing innovations to the judiciary. It is his second initiative which has been taken for expressing regard to the lower courts.

Before it, Justice Malimath as the CJ of MPHC passed a resolution on December 16 last year regarding the respect of the lower courts. After the passing of this notification, now all the courts in the state except the HC are known as ‘District Judiciary’ instead of ‘Subordinate Judiciary’. Also, all courts other than the High Court are known as ‘Trial Courts’ instead of the subordinate judiciary. The MPHC has become the second in the country to pass such a resolution after the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Justice Malimath was then the acting Chief Justice of the HPHC.

Significantly, in November last year, at the felicitation ceremony of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had said, ‘I think we have promoted a culture of subordination; we call district judiciary as subordinate courts, I call district judges as subordinate judges. I do not agree to be addressed as He is not a subordinate, but a district judge”.

During the event, Chief Justice Malimath expressed gratitude to the judicial officers for having worked extensively for the cause of justice, acknowledging the role of district judges in the justice delivery system.

“The contributions made by the judges of district judiciary are immense. They interact with the litigants during the trial of a case. It is from them that the litigants derive confidence in the judicial system”, justice Malimath said.

Justice Malimath said that the importance of the district judiciary could not be undermined and each member of the district judiciary had contributed to the dispensation of justice to the best of their ability.

The event was organised at the Principal Bench of the High Court at Jabalpur. Judges sitting at the Benches at Gwalior and Indore, as well as judicial officers, advocates and families of the deceased judges, attended the ceremony virtually.