Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Saturday asked budding lawyers to master the skill of presenting facts of the cases before courts. The CJI, who was felicitated by the Bar Council of India - apex bar body - praised women advocates and judges for their endeavours in the field of advocacy and judiciary and asked them as well as their male counterparts not to deviate from the principles of the profession. Justice Misra, who succeeded Justice J S Khehar as the CJI on August 27, expressed gratitude to the bar and advised budding lawyers to get mastery over facts of the cases being fought by them. "Everyday, we judges are taught by lawyers. If a young lawyer is not recognised by this country, his ambition will be scuttled," he said. Praising women lawyers and judges, the CJI said that they were doing a great service to the nation. Besides the CJI, several apex court judges, including Justices Arun Mishra, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud, L N Rao, S Abdul Nazeer and Navin Sinha, graced the occasion. Speaking at the function, Justice Misra highlighted the importance of a strong and independent bar and said it was necessary for a strong judiciary. "If the bar is not strong and its independence is compromised, the judiciary will become very weak. The bar's duty is to keep the judiciary in a perspective. Bar is our protection," he said. BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra raised the issue of rising vacancies in judiciary. "With the new CJI among us, we hope that vacancies across high courts in the country would be filled up speedily," he said. He emphasised that bar bodies like the BCI should be consulted by the judiciary in appointment of judges. "We don't know why the bar has been given a step-motherly treatment by judiciary. We hope that in times to come, the BCI's autonomy is respected and not compromised," he said. He also raised the issue of frequent strikes by lawyers and said that the BCI was aware of the situation.
