On Monday, 17th of February, 2020, the second-year students of School of Law, NMIMS, Navi Mumbai visited the Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan, Bhayander. This visit included a tour of the Academy along with a "One Day Capsule Course”. This seminar took place from 9 am to around 4 pm. The students got the privilege of receiving lectures from four main personalities of the Judicial Academy; Shri S.V. Yarlagadda, Joint Director at M.J.A., Shri N.M. Jamadar, Additional Director, Shri K.R. Singhel, Deputy Director, and Smt. Palak N. Jamadar, Additional Director.
As the students arrived at the campus, they were immediately drawn to the beautiful landscapes and structures of the Academy. The students were directed towards the cafeteria for breakfast, after which they were directed towards the auditorium for the seminar. The aforementioned four dignitaries were seated at the podium and the students of NMIMS, Navi Mumbai were accompanied by the law students of Kishinchand Chellaram Law College, Churchgate, and Gopaldas Advani Law College, Bandra. The students were given a brief introduction to the Academy and its functioning; how it trains candidates as well as existing judges (via "refresher training” courses), audience on what they wish to discuss throughout the course. A lot of audience members, across the three colleges, wished to learn more about mediation, the Judiciary and Artificial Intelligence, and legal research and the role of the academy for the same. All these topics were discussed at the end of all four sessions by Shri S.V. Yarlagadda. This introduction session also included discussions on the number of programs conducted by the Academy over the past four years (around 50 per year), "judicial decision fatigue” as asked by an audience member, and how around 3 thousand Maharashtra judges have been deputed to various locations including Daman and Diu, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and so on.
The first session was on ‘Criminal Trial Procedures’ by Joint-Director, Shri S.V. Yarlagadda. This session informed the students on the process of the criminal system in India, from the happening of a crime to imprisonment. The session covered the process of filing of a first information report, the difference between a police station and a police post, the various memorandums maintained at a police station (FIR Registers, Non-Cognizable Records, Station Diary, Occurrence Diary, Case Diary, etc.), process of investigations, categories of complaints, power to take cognizance by Session judges versus Special Judges, process of committal after cognizance. The session also included the difference between inquiry and investigation, the meanings and differences of "in-discharge” versus "under the colour of duty”, the meaning of "cognizance” and how its interpretation differs for a police officer and for a judicial magistrate, how an FIR is not essential for investigation, how statements recorded during investigations are not admissible in a court, the difference between not proved versus disproved, truth versus fact, the definition of "investigation”, how witnesses to certain offences cannot be condemned for being inconsistent with previously made statements, the validity of a "tip” given to a police officer, how various final reports made by the police ("A Final, B Final, C Final”) are maintained, and lastly the admissibility of hearsay evidence.
The second session was conducted by Shri N.M. Jamadar, Additional Director at MJA. The topic of discussion was "Judicial Process and Judgement Writing” wherein the Civil Procedure Code was discussed along with the importance of impeccable documentation.
The third session was conducted by Shri K.R. Singhel, Deputy Director on the topic "Judiciary as a Career Option”. The session included discussions on and explanations of the various types of legal careers, the hierarchy of judicial services, entry into the judiciary and its eligibility criteria. Various categories of candidates were discussed, some of which were lawyers, fresh law graduates, ministerial staff. The age criteria for open category and reserved categories was discussed wherein the reserved category receives a relaxation of five years. The various service condition of CJJD and JMFC, the various facilities provided for the judiciary (petrol allowances, leave encashment, etc.) was discussed. The appointment of District Judges along with the specific distribution of allotments; 25% allotment by direct nomination by the Bar, 65% by promotion (criteria being seniority and merit), 10% seats allocated by accelerated promotions via results of competitive examinations. The reasons to join the judiciary, as discussed by Shri K.R. Singhel, are that the judiciary is an essential wing of democracy, the dignity of judicial officers is higher than any other equivalent officers, there exists a kind of independence in the job, holding of a constitutional post by a judge vis-à-vis an IAS officer, and the presiding officer is supreme in his court. Judicial discipline includes how the judiciary is a guardian of the Constitution and how judicial functioning is ‘pious’.
The last session was conducted by Smt. Palak Jamadar, Additional Director at MJA on the topic "Gender Justice”. The session extended from discussions from the situation of the first few female lawyers from Calcutta and Allahabad and how their applications were denied on the basis on the definition of the word "persons” in the General Clauses Act, 1897. There was a lot of involvement of the audience in this session especially.
This visit was extremely beneficial to the students as it provided a practical and realistic perspective on the functioning of the judiciary in India.
