The Madras High Court has indeed come a long way in its one-and-a-half centuries of existence (“Time to celebrate, and deliberate,” Sept. 8). The future is built over the past with the present as the cementing factor. The lifeline of a court is the legal fraternity. Lawyers must behave more responsibly, and refrain from indulging in violence or boycotting the court. On this great occasion, let them resolve to uphold the noble principles of their profession.
D. Elangovan,
Dindigul
We were transported to the hoary past of the Madras High Court. The solemn statement of Chief Justice Sir Arthur Collins about “that undiscovered country, of which we know so little” is an allusion to and a variation of Shakespeare’s immortal verse in Hamlet, “… from whose bourn no traveller returns.” Interestingly, the Chief Justice chose to luxuriate in an oft-quoted piece of Shakespearean poetry, while assuring Governor Wenlock that “there may also continue to be found men of ability and courage who will administer the law in these courts without distinction of class, creed or race.” He would have obviously been concerned that the values of justice should last and not fade with the passage of time.
S.K. Kumaran,
Chennai
Talking about the history of High Courts in India, I recall the words of Victor Hugo: “Great edifices, like great mountains, are the work of ages.” Unfortunately, the seeds of destabilisation of the edifices germinated during the Emergency and culminated in Sampath Kumar vs Union of India (1986). Fortunately, the historic judgment in Chandra Kumar vs Union of India restored the power of the High Courts under Article 226.
R. Rama Krishna,
Eluru
via The Hindu Newspaper http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article3878428.ece
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