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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, January 10: There are 4,000 lawyers registered with the Delhi High Court Bar Association (HCBA) but only 500 chambers in the court complex to accommodate them. And the library, which is supposed to provide them with an arsenal of the latest information on laws, issues and court orders, is poorly equipped.
The newly constituted bar association has, however, drafted grandiose plans to improve the situation. While a new block of chambers will soon be raised on the vacant plot adjacent to the complex, the group has proposed to expand the library to include the latest and important judgments given by courts in the US and UK.
“Information is a weapon. If young lawyers are not properly equipped, how are they expected to fight cases in such a rapidly-changing economic scenario where we have cases on topics like intellectual property rights and the working style and ethics of multinational companies,” says A.S. Chandiok, the newly-elected president of the HCBA.
Maintaining that a congenial environment for both lawyers and litigants was a basic requirement on court premises, Chandiok insisted that a big chunk of the funds collected by way of hefty court fees needed to be spent on improving infrastructure on court premises.
The association is also sending a proposal to the authorities to upgrade and computerise the library, so that court orders and other bits of information can be accessed easily by lawyers. Incidentally, the HCBA has already petitioned the Supreme Court demanding allotment of land belonging to the CPWD near the high court to expand the over-crowded complex.
