Be more sensitive to differently-abled, rape survivors: Allahabad HC judges to subordinate courts

Subordinate court judges in Uttar Pradesh should be more sensitive towards the differently-abled and rape survivors in dispensation of justice and this should reflect in their judicial attitude, Allahabad High Court judges have said.

In an address to over 200 judicial officers, including district judges from Lucknow, Kanpur, Sitapur, Raebareli, Unnao and Ayodhya during a conference here on Sunday, Justice D K Upadhyay said, "We should develop a culture of respecting women and we should also imbibe a culture of equality in our society."

The Constitution does not make a revolution but it is revolutions that make a Constitution, he said.

The two-day conference on "Sensitisation of District Court Judges on Gender Justice and Differently-Abled Victims/Survivors of Sexual Abuse" was aimed at training subordinate judges, especially those dealing with cases related to women and differently-abled persons.

The high court judges asked the judges of the subordinate courts across the state to be more sensitive towards differently-abled victims and rape survivors in dispensation of justice to them, and said it should reflect in their judicial attitude and in the overall judicial functioning in the courts.

Supreme Court judge Justice Dinesh Maheshwari inaugurated the conference on Saturday.

He had said justice should not be litigant-centric but cause-centric.

Differently-abled people, he said, needed special attention rather than sympathy.

"It is empathy which should be embedded in the approach of judging while dealing with disabled victims or survivors of sexual abuse," Justice Maheshwari had said.

Addressing the participants, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Rajesh Bindal had said the pendency of cases in courts in Uttar Pradesh showed that people were not getting justice on time.