Shed paternalistic approach towards juniors: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud

MADURAI: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday asked the advocates to shed away their paternalistic approach towards junior lawyers and said paying them pretty low amounts leads to ‘gatekeeping’ of the profession.

After inaugurating celebrations here to mark the 20th anniversary of the setting up of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the chief justice hailed the contribution of the bench in serving as a repository of data and software backup for the Delhi High Court.

Raising the issue of entry-level juniors getting paid a “meagre” salary, Justice Chandrachud said, “please shed away the paternalistic approach that they have come to learn and get exposure and experience, and that you are mentoring them.”

He pointed out that there was much to learn from the junior lawyers. Paying lower amounts such as Rs 5,000 per month to the juniors leads to “gatekeeping” of the profession, he said.

Maintaining that the juniors were particularly more cognizant of the contemporary realities, he advocated that the junior lawyers should be provided with a “dignified sum commensurate with their hard work.”

Lauding the Bench for its latest “remarkable feat”, the CJI said the Delhi High Court had set up a Disaster Recovery Centre at Madurai Bench this year to ensure regular backup of its data and software.

The CJI also unveiled the Vigentennial Stupa (pillar) at the Madurai Bench premises. The celebrations at the Madurai Convention Centre, Tamukkam grounds, were attended among others by Supreme Court judges: Justice B R Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice M M Sundresh, Justice KV Viswanathan, Justice R Mahadevan.

Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justices R Suresh Kumar, S S Sundar, and R Subramanian besides Advocate General of Tamil Nadu PS Raman, and Additional Solicitor General of India ARL Sunderesan also participated. Justice Sundresh unveiled a new name board for the Madurai Bench. It read ‘Madras Uyar Needhi Mandram, Madurai Amarvu’.

Addressing the gathering, the CJI said establishing the bench of the High Court was not just about setting up infrastructure or creating courtrooms or furnishing those courtrooms. “In the last 20 years, the Madurai Bench has made that transition into truly being a representative of the great traditions of the Madras High Court,” the CJI added.

‘Tech dependence has its drawbacks’

MADURAI: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Saturday said that technological dependence had its drawbacks and cited the Microsoft outage of July 19 as a point in case. His flight from Delhi to Madurai was nearly cancelled due to the Microsoft outage, he said. “I am an ardent believer of the benefits of technology and yesterday we saw the adverse effects of technological dependence. After the Microsoft outage, flights all across the country were cancelled,” he said. “Numerous flights from Delhi were cancelled but I think it is the love of the people of Madurai, which was showered upon me that has ensured my presence amongst all of you today,” he said.