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‘Robust’ legislation needed to provide legal cover to all: Justice Datta
Justice Datta speaking at the seminar on “Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Telecom, Broadcasting and Cyber-Sector issue, Approach and Way Forward”
Justice Dipankar Datta, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, on Saturday highlighted the need for “robust” legislation to tackle situations in order to achieve the preamble promise of securing justice for citizens.
Speaking at the seminar on “Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Telecom, Broadcasting and Cyber-Sector issue, Approach and Way Forward”, organised by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in Pune, the chief justice referred to newspaper reports on Shraddha Walkar murder case.
“We have read reports mentioning ‘love in Mumbai, horror in Delhi’. Crimes of this type are committed because of easy access to inappropriate content on the internet. The Centre’s draft telecom bill is a step in the right direction. We require certain ‘robust’ legislation to tackle all situations in order to achieve the goal of keeping our preamble promise of securing justice for all citizens and retaining the dignity of individuals,” he said, adding that steps should be taken to not fail the Constitution prepared by the founding fathers of the Indian republic.
Mumbai youth Aftab Poonawalla allegedly strangled his live-in partner Shraddha days after they moved to Delhi. Aftab was arrested by the Delhi Police last week when he reportedly confessed to the murder, saying he cut up his girlfriend in 35 pieces and disposed them of in Mehrauli jungle over a period of time.
Justice Datta said that there is a need for TDSAT office at regional level too.
“All are exposed to the risk of private information being hacked through mobile phone. Therefore, we should explore whether instead of having one principal bench (TDSAT) at Delhi, with sittings permitted at six other places, why don’t we have regional benches in line with the National Green Tribunal (NGT),” he said.
Underlining the importance of tribunals, Justice Datta said that when he joined the bar in 1989, courts were hearing cases as tribunals were not formed.
“Over a period of time, it was felt that courts were being overburdened. Not only that newer subjects were introduced by way of legislation and it was felt that maybe the courts do not have the expertise to deal with these matters, but also the need was felt to constitute tribunals manned by people who know the law and also are assisted by people who have technical knowledge of particular subjects. Various such tribunals have been constituted since then,” he said.
Supreme Court Judge Justice Abhay Oka and TDSAT chairman Justice DN Patel were present at the seminar.
Pointing to the basic policy of economics based on “‘Demand” and “Supply”, Justice Datta said that in the judicial system, “supply” did not match the “demand” referring to manpower shortage.
