Senapati District Bar Association has alleged that cases are being dismissed and rejected on mere grounds of spelling and grammar mistakes without appreciating the real facts and circumstances of the real cases and petitions placed before the CJM
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Senapati District Bar Association (SDBA) has accused the Chief Judicial Magistrate in charge of Senapati District of not “keeping a cordial relationship with the Advocates appearing in her Court”. It has alleged that cases are being dismissed and rejected on mere grounds of spelling and grammar mistakes without appreciating the real facts and circumstances of the real cases and petitions placed before her.
The SDBA has submitted a representation of Complaint against the CJM, Senapati to Acting Chief Justice of Manipur High Court through the registrar of Manipur High seeking his kind and sympathetic consideration and urging him to do the needful of redressing their grievances at the earliest. The representation dated February 17, 2023 copy of which is with The Frontier Manipur bears signature of SDBA general secretary.
As per the representation, the CJM is accused of not understanding the relation between Bar and Bench, and the advocates who are also officers of the Court. It has been alleged that the CJM has been denying justice to the litigants and cases are not being conducted on a day to day basis. At times, she even abuses and uses words which are unbecoming of a Judicial Officer, alleged the SDBA.
The representation maintained that many advocates, who are coming from the valley and other hills district, have been pressuring the Bar to put the grievances faced by the people before the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.
It alleged that the CJM in charge has not been applying “judicial mind while hearing cases and dispensing justice”. The Justice Delivery System has become a mockery and litigants who are coming to get justice have lost faith in the judicial system before this Court, alleged the SDBA. She has also been accused of “delaying” and “harassing” advocates on “flimsy and little mistakes”, added the representation.
The bar association stated, “after much tolerance and having no option, we the Senapati District Bar Association being the guardian of all the Ld. Advocates of Manipur appearing before this Hon’ble Court are compelled to place our grievance after much thought before your Lordship to do justice to the litigants as well as the Bar.” SDBA pleaded with the chief justice to transfer the CJM to another Court in order to meet the ends of justice.
When the team TFM tried to reach out to lawyers, who had appeared before her, to share their personal experience with, none of them came forward to speak on the issue.
However, a lawyer expressed her reservation about the necessity to bring into the public domain such an internal issue. “Let them resolve the matter themselves. Bringing such issues into the public domain may cause the already-strained relationship between advocates and the CJM to degrade further,” she said.
Another lawyer opted to differ with her view. “It’s not a hearsay report when a formal complaint has been lodged by a bar association against a CJM. It will help in bringing some judicial accountability,” he opined.
Senapati District Bar Association president Kumu Adani Mao said that no reply has come from the High Court. Further, a meeting is likely to be held to decide further steps to be taken by the bar association.