Open Hearing

• Two Kerala HC judges, including the chief justice, are on a TV adalat on a private news channel.
• Sponsors lining up for the hit programme where viewers can phone in seeking legal advice.
• The judges says there’s a huge backlog of cases. The programme will help viewers understand that there are alternative avenues of redressal other than the courts.
• Critics say sitting judges should not indulge in non-judicial activity.

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And they called about everything, from land deals gone sour to divorce to family squabbles. One caller, Ramakrishnan from Oman, wanted advice on settling a property dispute with neighbours in Feroke, Kozhikode. He was desperate to sell the land to raise money for his mother’s treatment. Justice Joseph advised him straightaway not to take the issue to court, saying it would take years to settle. He instead advised hiring a lawyer to negotiate a settlement, for that way he wouldn’t have to come down too.

Meanwhile, Madhu from Thiruvananthapuram wanted to know about the long wait (three years on now) for his divorce. Chief Justice Bannurmath advised him to seek the help of a mediator under the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) and try to resolve it outside the courts. For good measure, he also advised the man to think of the children and go in for a reconciliation.

If first week reactions are an indicator, the programme already has a following. It’ll be recorded during the lunch recess every Friday in the Kochi HC premises. The judges initially agreed to spare 45 minutes, but the first shoot went on for over two hours with many callers still on hold. The reason for choosing Friday, no doubt, is because it’s a public holiday in the Gulf (and over a dozen Malayalam channels are vying for the non-resident Keralite’s eyeballs). The Asianet channel, owned by Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Chandrasekhar, expects the “adalat” to be a big hit in rights-conscious Kerala.

That said, the ethics brigade has also started making noises—for judges are on TV in what is a commercial programme. Ex-MP Dr Sebastian Paul, himself an SC lawyer, concedes the idea is novel but says it could have grave consequences. “The US Supreme Court has consistently refused to render advisory opinion on abstract legal questions as it does not wish to exercise any non-judicial function. When the chief justice gives impromptu advisories on TV on abstract, hypothetical or controversial questions, the public will get the impression that it is binding on the courts which actually decide the case. Rendering legal opinion is the realm of lawyers or the legal aid body. The duty of the judges is to decide cases actually brought before them. The present exercise will curtail the freedom of subordinate judges to take independent and impartial decisions based on law and proved facts.”

Channel programme coordinator Abhilash Nair says the idea came from the justices themselves, who wanted to tap the visual medium to spread awareness about alternative forums available for legal redress. The judges, themselves, are gung-ho about the programme. Chief Justice Bannurmath even says in the programme’s promo that “we are thankful (to the channel) for accepting our request to allot some space”.