BADAL SEEKS COOPERATION OF JUDICIARY, LEGISLATURE, EXECUTIVE AND MEDIA INERADICATING FEMALE FOETICIDE & DRUG ADDICTION

MOONAK (SANGRUR), Mar. 15, 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today asked the judiciary to play a pro-active role in the eradication of female foeticide & drug dedication through launching a social campaign in unison with legislature, executive and media through their complete involvement and commitment.

These views were expressed by Mr. Badal during a seminar on ‘Eradication of female foeticide & drug De-addiction’ organized by the Punjab Legal Services Authority here at the newly inaugurated Court complex by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan. Mr. Badal appreciated the role of Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court Mr. Justice Vijender Jain for launching a crusade against these two social maladies which had brought bad name to the state of Punjab which was considered to be the pious land of gurus, saints , seers , rishis and munis.

The Chief Minister urged the Chief Justice of India to enact laws to protect the right of the women because they were still being denied equal status and equal rights. “ This is the result of the deep rooted social evil and feudal mind set of our humanity”, observed Mr. Badal . He informed the Chief Justice that with the persistent efforts of the state government and judiciary under the stewardship of Mr. Justice Vijender Jain the child sex ratio had considerably improved to 818 from 798 as per Sample Registration System (SRS) of Government of India.

While addressing the Chief Justice of Supreme Court Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan underscored the need to provide judicial services with in a radius of 20 to 25 K.M. by setting up at least a court of Civil Judge , Junior Division to enable the people to get speedy and inexpensive justice. He said he had been pressing the Chief Justices and Chief Ministers of all the states to initiate joint efforts to setup such courts which would prove to be an effective step to combat the problem of the mounting arrears of pending cases. He also emphasized the need to recruit more judicial officers to resolve the pendency of cases.

Chief Justice of India also urged the people to avoid direct filing of their cases in the courts rather should seriously strive hard to resolve them initially at the village level through the involvement of elders and senior and respectable persons, he said this would not only save common man’s time money and energy but also save court’s precious time wasted in unwarranted litigation. He appreciated Mr. Justice Vijender Jain being a great crusader for the cause of female foeticide and drug deduction in Punjab. Mr. Justice Balakrishnan bemoaned that Punjab being the most advanced state in the country should educate its people by launching a social campaign to bring awareness among the masses on this count. He said the problem of female foeticide was hardly an issue in Kerala State to which he belonged. He said education was the prime factor which could help in resolving these social evils because an educated person could decide his or her destiny rationally which would ultimately vanish such evils from the society.

In his presidential address Chief Justice Punjab & Haryana High Court, Mr. Justice Vijender Jain said that society must be sensitized towards the injustice meted out to the women. He said law alone could not provide justice in this regard and urged the NGO’s to play a constrictive role to curb these unhealthy practices thereby motivating the youth to change their mindset towards this dogmatic approach. He commended the Chief Minister for all support and cooperation for the up gradation of judicial infrastructure in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice Ashok Bhan said that the problem of female foeticide was a slur on the fair name of the prosperous and the most advanced state like Punjab which tops in the adverse sex-ratio and emphasized the need to protect the fast disappearing girl’s child from the society. He also expressed grave concern over the menace of drug addiction especially among the youth which was catching up fast due to the affluence and frustration and this trend must be reversed otherwise it would have serious implication in the society. Mr. Justice Ashok Bhan, in all humility claimed that though he was not in favor of racism but still the adverse sex ratio was a pointer towards the fact that future generations could face a sort of socio-cultural crisis when our Punjabi boys would not be able to find compatible life partners within their own community or clan.

Expressing his views on the gender bias, Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice A.K. Mathur said : “ This is also time to examine all aspects of the gender bias to avoid distortions in society. The most important reason appears to be the rationale that only males can carry forward the lineage, these days there is hardly any difference between a girl and boy child in the society expect in our minds.” He stressed the need to change our mind set and one should be thankful to be blessed with a healthy and normal child to perpetuate the life through one’s genes that continue in either case.

In his address, the Supreme Court Judge Mr. Justice H.S. Bedi said that the social problems of drug addiction and female foeticide were really alarming and the masses should be sensitized towards these evils which were bent upon to tarnish the very social fabrics of our society. He lauded the role of Punjab Legal Services Authority for playing an active role to curb these unhealthy practices. He also asked the state government to provide better infrastructure in terms of judicial court complexes & lawyer chambers to enable the judicial officer’s and lawyers to discharge their duties efficiently.

Leader of the opposition, Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal appreciated the efforts of Punjab Legal Services Authority for organizing this seminar on the crucial issues that had affected our society substantially. She hoped this seminar would prove to be a milestone in bringing social awaking on female foeticide and drug addiction.

The seminar was attended by the judges of the Punjab & Haryana High court, District & Sessions Judges , Senior officers of Civil & Police administration Law officers, Members of the judiciary and layers, eminent jurists besides Member of Parliament from Sangrur Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Senior Akali larder Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra and the senior leadership SAD-BJP.