JOWAI: The Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, on Wednesday, unveiled the plaque to mark the separation of the Judiciary from the Executive in East Jaintia Hills while also inaugurating the court building of the District and Sessions Judge.
The Chief Justice, Biswanath Somadder, was also the chief guest of the grand function held at the premises of the DC’s Office and attended by more than 150 persons including selected headmen, JHADC chief and some MDCs besides leaders of NGOs and prominent residents of the district.
The Chief Justice was accompanied by Justice HS Thangkhiew and Justice W Diengdoh of Meghalaya High Court besides Law Minister James PK Sangma and local MLA Kyrmen Shylla, who is also the Minister of Social Welfare and Disaster Management.
In his address, the Chief Justice spoke about the relationship between the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, stating that there is a need for separation of the three institutions so that none of them can cause havoc to the people in a democratic set-up and to avoid conflict of interest as they have their own functions and roles, while adding that the three must work in tandem in order to maintain a delicate balance.
“Article 50 of the Indian Constitution mandates that we must have this separation of the judiciary from the executive,” he said, adding that the segregation of the executive from the judiciary will bring about access to justice and will benefit the people of the district.
While thanking the state government for the support, the Chief Justice said the district has reached a milestone with the segregation that will now allow only judicial officers to take up the matters of dispute, which were earlier taken up by the officers of the executive — the district administration.
He informed that the District Legal Services Authority will now step in and reach out to the block-level to find out whether the people are getting access to justice and, more importantly, access to quality justice.
He also called upon the headmen and the people of the district to render full cooperation to the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and District Legal Service Authority (DLSA), whose task is to ensure that each person residing in the district avail access to this setup without any hindrance.
Speaking on the occasion, Law Minister James PK Sangma said the day is a red-letter day for the people of district and the state as a whole, while he congratulated all those involved in making the event successful.
Informing that East Jaintia Hills is the ninth district in the state where the judiciary has been separated from the executive, James stated that the objective of the move is to bring justice closer to the people.
Speaking on the status of cases in the district, the minister said that with the court of the District and Sessions Judge, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Judicial Magistrate now being put in place, the scenario of disposal of cases is expected to come down adding that with the establishment of these courts, the justice delivery system will receive a boost.
Earlier, the Commissioner Secretary read the government notification for separation of the Judiciary from the Executive and handed it over to the judge of the District Sessions Court.
The officials of the new district Judiciary are Gasalynn Ranee as District Sessions Judge, Daniel S Marbaniang as CJM, Temsu Trevor M Sangma as Full Secretary, DSLA, East Jaintia Hills, and Dasukshisha Kharbithai and Baikim M Sangma as Judicial Magistrates.