Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 5: In a first for an Indian jurist, Justice Gita Mittal, former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, has been conferred with the prestigious Arline Pacht Global Vision Award for 2021 by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ).
The Award will be presented at IAWJ’s Biennial Conference during the virtual opening ceremony on May 7, 2021. She shares the honour with Justice Margarita Luna Ramos of Mexico.
“The conferment of this award by the IAWJ is a recognition that my efforts were of some meaning,” Justice Mittal said, adding “to me access to justice is not synonymous with access to courts. It is much more. It includes empowering every human being to recognize their right to equality in every sense; in then taking that courageous step to first finding the way and then approaching any available system (including the justice dispensation one) to ensure its meaningful availability”.
“This has meant not only educating but making available affordable access to every human being,” Justice Mittal further said. She stated that in her court administration, equality, including that of gender and opportunity to those marginalized (the transgender, the acid violence survivor and the disabled) was ensured.
“I can only say that I worked hard and honestly to provide equal justice and access to courts to all. The current pandemic tested me to the utmost and I hope I brought some succour through my position as a judge in the orders which I passed and actions which I took even during these difficult times,” she added.
It is pertinent to mention here that Justice Gita Mittal was the first woman to serve as the Chief Justice of J&K High Court. During her 28-months long tenure, she initiated many programmes to make justice available to all especially women.
She launched a YouTube channel for the J&K courts, beside a unique programme called ‘Insaaf Ki Dastak’ to enable litigants residing in remote, far-flung areas of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to file cases via existing postal service, without having to visit courts. She also set up ‘camp courts’ in different locations.
At present, Justice Mittal is the Chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), an independent, self-regulatory body for general entertainment channels set up by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). She is the first woman to hold this position.
The Arline Pacht Global Vision Award was constituted in 2016 and is presented to a sitting or retired woman judge to recognize her long-term contribution to the IAWJ.
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