PANAJI, Dec 16: Each legal case is distinct and one cannot compare it with other present or past matters, said Justice Bharat P Deshpande of High Court of Bombay at Goa on Saturday, underscoring that sometimes even judges make mistakes.
Addressing the lecture series ‘GRK-Judiciary Talks’ at G R Kare College of Law, Margao, Justice Deshpande said there are a lot of judgments on each topic.
“My experience as a sessions judge and also as a high court judge is that each and every case is having something different in it. You cannot compare each case or earlier cases with the present cases,” he said.
Related Posts:
While applying the “law laid down by the Supreme Court and high courts”, one should not just go and find out what the ratio is but ascertain what the facts are, he told the students at the event.
“So we have to have that balancing act. Sometimes it is very difficult, sometimes you have to find out something which is not there in earlier cases and come to the conclusion,” he said.
Justice Deshpande further said, “We, as judges, won’t claim that we are right always. We also commit mistakes (sometimes). But the fact is that there should be frankness in accepting that there is a mistake.”
Nobody in this world is perfect in all aspects, he said.
“Everybody commits mistakes at one or other point of time. The best thing is that you have to accept your mistakes, try to correct them and go forward. That is the part of life which we try to inculcate in our society itself,” he said.
Justice Deshpande urged the students to visit courts to gain practical experience besides getting theoretical knowledge in classrooms.
He told the law students to use their degree as a tool to give service to society and people in need of legal aid.
Justice Deshpande said that theoretical knowledge was necessary but gaining experience was important. “Visit courts, especially the trial courts. That knowledge will give you first-hand experience for your career in future,” he said.
The judge also asked students not to be a “slave” of technology.
“You have to take advantage of that (technology) but go to the root of the matter. Read books which will give you thorough knowledge of the procedural laws and rules,” he added.
Advocate Parijat Madhusudan Pande, chairman of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, was also present on the occasion. (PTI)
