Staff Reporter :
The immediate-past chief justice of India, Altamas Kabir, believes that access to justice for all in countries like India and Bangladesh can be improved through innovative alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Justice Kabir said this at a function , organised by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development of the BRAC University at the Daily Star Center in the city on Thursday.
Advocate Sultana Kamal, Executive Director of Ain O Shalish Kendra(ASK) presided over the function while BRAC University Vice Chancellor Ainun Nishat and Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Executive Director of the institute of Governance , were also present.
Altamas Kabir said that despite the range of provisions in the constitution and different laws of both India and
Bangladesh, the economic realities of both countries, where the vast section of the population live in rural areas, made it difficult for ‘people at the bottom of the democratic ladder’ to access justice.
‘Coming to court is not an easy matter. It is both time-consuming and expensive,’ he said.
He further said various innovations that were implemented during his tenure and before, such as Lok Adalat, Legal Aid Units, paralegal volunteers, Lok Adalats on mobile vans etc. that have served to mitigate the pressure of the legal system that is burdened with a huge case backlog.
Kabir shared many anecdotes during his tenure as chief justice when he used the powers at his disposal to take justice at the doorsteps of people who otherwise had no access to it. Meanwhile, Justice Kabir paid a courtesy call on Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Md. Muzammel Hossain at the latter’s office on Thursday.
During the meeting, the judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and acting Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sandeep Chakraborty were present.
Justice Kabir was the 39th Chief Justice of India. He held the position of the Chief Justice from September 29, 2012 to July 18, 2013.
Earlier, he joined the High Court judge in Kolkata on August 6, 1990. He retired as the Chief Justice on July 18 last year.
