December 7, 2021 is a historic day for the people of Jaintia Hills District with the inauguration of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) Court building for the judiciary to upgrade its judicial services in a much improved and refined environment for the people of the region. The auspicious and much needed building of the court is indeed dreams come true for the legal fraternity of the District Council.
The inauguration programme on that day was set to commence at 11 am sharp and whereas guests and invitees were being assisted to be seated at an appropriate timing before the starting time. I, being one of the many invitees from near and far, have been occupying my seat amongst the others in the dot of the scheduled timing.
Ludicrously, all of us are left with amazement and end up bearing the body strain and muscle cramps waiting for the organisers to start the day. When enquired, it was revealed that the programme waits for the chief guest to arrive. Two hours passed by with everyone’s attention seeming to blur out as the ‘honourable’ chief guest arrived at the venue only at 1 pm! Such an irritating and distressing act by anyone is very much unacceptable.
As a concerned citizen of the region and a responsible lawyer by profession, I could not just breathe in of the situation but to share my views and opinion of that very day. It is such a shame that the politician being in power not only suppresses but dominates the very virtue and morality of being called ‘Public Representative’. Not even knowing to respect the public patience and time is something one should be held accountable of. Is this how JHADC is being treated by a politician?
Ironically, the programme was being attended by politicians, bureaucrats, traditional heads besides the many lots, but for reasons best known to the organisers, not even a single face to represent the honourable High Court of Meghalaya is to be seen when the occasion itself is judiciary in nature.
Does the judicial system in our JHADC run merely by politics whereby the fundamental judicial ethics are being neglected? It is all down to the drain if the working principles and ideology of the District Council does not mirror concepts and essence of discipline and punctuality.
