Thanjavur : “Justice comes not only from the text, but also the spirit of law,” said Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras, in a lecture at the School of Law, SASTRA University, Thanjavur today.

Addressing students of the SASTRA School of Law and the legal fraternity of the Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur district courts, Justice Kaul underscored the need for professionalising the legal profession by improving the quality of legal education. Speaking with factual and anecdotal emphasis, he observed that “justice also means justice within the timeframe”, and referred to the litigative culture of Indian courts, contrasting it with the global experience. He stressed the need for increasing efficiency as an index for systemic evaluation and traced the growth of inter-disciplinary studies and the resultant specialisation which provided scope for a diversity of practice at the Bar.

The chief justice also commented on the salience of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms as the method for avoiding delays and reiterated the “need to evolve a culture of settlement of disputes”.

He took questions from the students who raised queries on diverse and intricate aspects of Constitutional law, international law, criminal law and civil questions of dispute. The event saw the release of the SASTRA Legal Aid Clinic’s directory covering the student-led efforts in ensuring legal literacy and facilitating legal awareness towards redressal of grievances in the neighbouring villages by conducting 32 legal aid camps and disposing over 3,200 petitions since April 2012.

The Chief Justice also released “Just As they Spoke”, a DVD compilation of the lectures delivered by eminent jurists at the School of Law, SASTRA University. A A Nakheeran, Principal District and Sessions Judge of Thanjavur, and Prof R Sethuraman, Vice Chancellor, SASTRA University were also present on the occasion.