#JAMMU: Under the patronage of Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice N Kotiswar Singh and guidance of Chairman Governing Committee, Justice Sanjeev Kumar and other members of Governing Committee for Academy, J&K Judicial Academy organised a pre-appointment training programme for the newly selected Civil Judges (Junior Division) at J&K Judicial Academy, Srinagar.

1. Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh and Patron-in-Chief, J&K Judicial Academy defined the tone and texture of the programme into motion in presence of Justice Tashi Rabstan.

Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Justice Puneet Gupta, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice M. Y. Wani and all the Judges from Jammu wing joined the programme virtually.

The Chief Justice, in his inaugural address, said that the concept of ‘Justice’ can be regarded as a prodigious view imbibed in our Constitution which owes its genesis to the soil of India. The notion of justice is most commonly associated with an underlying assumption that justice equates to the concept of equal rights and equal opportunity to have access and fair treatment in the legal system.

The Chief Justice delineated that source of judicial power in the law, in reality, is the effective exercise of judicial powers which originate from two sources. He added that the judges have to honour the judicial office which they hold as repositories of public trust.

He emphasised that every action and every word whether spoken or written, must show and reflect correctly that you hold the office of public trust and they should be determined to strive hard continuously to enhance and maintain people’s confidence in the judicial system. He also shared some real-life incidents with the trainees and encouraged them to deliver justice efficiently as first-line warriors.

Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy, gave an overview of Pre-appointment Training Programme module prepared by the Academy. He underlined that primary objective of the Induction Course is to build a strong foundation for the grooming of raw talent into as finest Judicial Officers. He highlighted that prime focus of the Induction Course, is on inculcation of Judicial Ethics, Development of Judicial Skills and Aptitude and Sensitization to Social Issues.

Justice Kumar further emphasized that institutional training at J&K Judicial Academy shall train and equip the Judicial Officer to effectively discharge their judicial functions. Its purpose would be to bridge the gap between the level of knowledge and its applicability in the actual discharge of duties, he added. He deliberated that the judicial education and training provides the means for the judiciary as an institution to consolidate, develop and perform this crucial, yet fragile, role in society.

Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Member, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy in his formal welcome address, observed that Judiciary, which is an integral part of the society, plays pivotal role in keeping the society ever dynamic. He added that the judiciary is the repository of confidence of the people and Indian judiciary has enjoyed immense public confidence and has stood the test of time. He said that the common man considers the judiciary as the ultimate guardian of his rights and liberties and therefore, every member of this institution owes a duty to maintain that confidence of the common man in the judiciary.

Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Member, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy, presented vote of thanks. She emphasised that pre-appointment Induction Training is a progressive step in the right direction to tune young minds to take over the new assignment with confidence.

Director, J&K Judicial Academy, Y.P.Bourney, conducted the proceedings of the inaugural programme. He congratulated the young trainees for having come out with flying colours and made to the merit list. He also gave introduction to the Induction Training Course in the first session.

The second session was conducted by Justice Bashir Ahmad Kirmani, Former Justice, High Court of J&K, who discussed the Judicial Ethics and Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers. The learned resource person highlighted that Judge should be courteous and fair in whatever he says and does. He added that the judges should take care to be punctual, to be dressed decently, to talk discretely and behave in a dignified and graceful manner befitting the high office he holds.

The third session was chaired by Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy. He discussed that Judges are not employees and as members of the judiciary, they exercise the sovereign judicial power of the State. He stated that Judges, at whatever level they may be, represent the State and its authority unlike the administrative executive or other members of the services since latter cannot be placed at par with the members of the judiciary, either constitutionally or functionally.

All the sessions remained very interactive during which all the trainee judges actively participated and shared their experiences, difficulties and also discussed various aspects of the subject topics. They also raised a number of queries which were answered satisfactorily by the resource persons.

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