Speaking at the NM Lahiri Memorial Lecture 2022 organised by Justice HS Thangkhiew at the State Convention Centre, Chief Justice of Meghalaya, Sanjib Banerjee said, “It is unfortunate that some groups are propagating the idea of homogenisation in the name of unification. There is so much wealth in diversity and in living according to our individual practices. Homogenisation is not unification.”
Justice Banerjee drew the attention of the audience to two aspects in the relationship between a junior and senior lawyer which is something remarkable but lost in present times. At one time there was the practice of deviling tutelage under a senior, following his coat-tails and bringing out the rear of his gown. That was how juniors entered the profession. The gestation gap between passing law and practising it is necessary in what was once a noble profession,” Justice Banerjee stated, adding that some time is needed for young lawyers to learn the tricks of the trade as there is a huge gap between what is taught in law colleges and practice in the courtroom .
Pointing to the mushrooming of law colleges across the country, Justice Banerjee said, “Today there are about 2000 law colleges with few imparting the necessary education. Every year lawyers by the thousands pass out. They are eager to learn but impatient to wait. We often see clashes within the courtroom that could not be imagined in the past. This reflects an uneasy relationship between junior lawyers and their seniors.” The Chief Justice said that the relationship between a senior and junior lawyer is that of a family and the nobility of the profession must be revived.
Speaking about Mr NM Lahiri, Justice Banerjee said that from all accounts he must have been a giant in his profession to have survived with different governments for 31 years. He lauded the relationship between Justice Thangkhiew and his senior Mr Lahiri who he remembers with gratitude.
Speaking of his tenure in Meghalaya, Justice Banerjee said, “I t is my good fortune to come to the backwoods of the country – Meghalaya with its verdant natural beauty which I consider a privilege.” Exhorting the people of Meghalaya to hold on to their tradition, the Chief Justice said, “Keep your identity; hold on to your traditional practices as long as those are in keeping with the constitutional ethos.”
Earlier Justice HS Thangkhiew while welcoming the legal luminaries of the state including the Chief Justice and fellow judges, advocate general, senior advocates, law students and guests briefed the gathering about late Mr NM Lahiri who has touched a century this year. Thangkhiew said, “Mr NM Lahiri was a renowned jurist and Meghalaya’s first Advocate General who held that post for 31 years, since the state was born. I was privileged to have been his junior and learnt the ropes from this luminary. From the inception of the District Council until 1972, Mr Lahiri shaped jurisprudence. He never wanted to be a lawyer and in fact was a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and was even jailed in Jorhat. Mr NM Lahiri’s father, SM Lahiri too was a legal luminary and a Legal Remembrancer of Assam,” Justice Thangkhiew informed.
Senior Advocate and President High Court Bar Association, S Chakravarty paid rich tributes to Mr Lahiri and said that his legal acumen had actually saved the Raj Bhavan, Secretariat and even the present premises of the High Court from reverting to the Nongkhlaw clan by establishing a balance between customary law and constitutional propriety.
Prof David Syiemlieh, former Chairperson UPSC delivered a lecture on the theme, “An overview of the Administrative Structure, Policy and Pattern in the Hills of North East India 1822-1972. Speaking of the laws that were implemented during British rule, Syiemlieh said that the Garo people then never understood these laws which were imposed on them. He also found the use of words like ‘backward’ tribes to define the indigenous people living in the hills pejorative. Syiem also pointed to words like “unadministered” as reflecting the lack for respect for tribal administration which existed in those early days.
It was also interesting to learn from Syiemlieh’s speech that the choice of Shillong as the British headquarters was because the place lent itself to expansion and was approachable from two directions – Assam and Sylhet. Also that cost of materials and labour were cheaper in the hills. Syiemlieh also pointed at the desire of the members of Constituent Assembly to assimilate the hill people with those of the plains which he said led to adversarial stances among the tribes. Speaking about administrators that served at a time when India became independent, Syiemlieh queried if there was a perceptible change in their attitudes and whether they realised the role entrusted to them in nation building. He said it is important to document their memoirs before they are lost to posterity.
Mr Vijay Hansaria, Senior Advocate Supreme Court whose book (5th edition) Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was released by Chief Justice Banerjee also addressed the gathering. He lauded the democratic tradition of the hill people and said that this form of democracy actually travelled from the east to the west. Hansaria also explained how land in tribal areas belonged to people and not to the government. He said that even in the Supreme Court he had to explain these patterns of land ownerships.
Pointing out to children not having access to education and Meghalaya ranking 17/25 among states in the human development index of state, Hansaria said the state should aim to achieve a single digit figure and can do it.
On the resistance by District Councils to application of CrPC and IPC in their law courts, Hansaria said in cases of murder whether committed by tribal or non-tribal sections of the CrPC should be applied since the law is equal for all. It is important for the ADCs also to evolve with time and while customary practices can be dealt with by the ADCs other offences must come under the ambit of the IPC and CrPC.
Others who spoke on the occasion included the Advocate General of Meghalaya, Amit Kumar, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma who gave a virtual speech and Law Minister James PK Sangma who sent a written address.