Hemant Gupta elevated as acting CJ of Patna HC

Justice Hemant Gupta, senior-most judge of the Patna High Court, was today elevated as its acting chief justice.
A Law Ministry notification issued here said Justice Gupta has been appointed as acting chief justice consequent upon the retirement of Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari on October 29.
Out of the total 24 high courts, three are now headed by an acting chief justice.
(Reopens DEL78)
Referring to the juvenile justice system, Justice Lokur said there are some lack of clarity on certain issues. "What does one do when there are two consenting teenagers 16-year-old, how does one deal with that?"

"These are some areas where I think we need to concentrate and its really for you to decide how you want to go about it. What are the topics you feel need consideration."

The Supreme Court Judge advocated newer training methods such as video conferencing, learning by illustrative audio- visuals and distance learning programmes for the police force.
"There is a lot that needs to be done. I can tell you from my experience in judiciary that there is a huge amount that needs to be done by the judges, by the judicial officers. We had taken a decision last year wherein all the judges went on a training programme for a week and I am sure many of us picked up a lot of things," he said.

He also stressed that educational programmes must be attended by officials irrespective of the post they hold.
"One has to look at education in a larger context in the sense that if I have been holding a particular position it does not mean that it is demeaning for me to participate in a programme as a student. That does not happen. Education is something that all of us are learning on a day to day basis. The only things is that it must be focused and it must be useful for our day-to-day life," he said.
Justice Lokur flagged obstacles to adult learning which include situational barriers like family commitments and commuting, low motivation and embarrassment undergoing training at an advanced age.

Institutional obstacles such as lack of funding and infrastructure bottlenecks, psychological and personal barriers were some of the other problems, he said, adding these all need to overcome.
The two-day symposium was inaugurated yesterday by Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and it was attended among others, BPR&D Director General Meeran C Borwankar, Additional DG, BPR&D Parvez Hayat and Director (Training), BPR&D S Sundari Nanda.