Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 19: J&K Judicial Academy under the patronage of Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh organized one day Special Training Programme for Judicial Officers on “Evidence Act, 1872: Appreciation of Evidence, Relevancy, Admissibility, Exhibition of documents, S.91- exclusion of oral evidence by documentary proof, Admissions, Confessions read with S.27, Presumptions, Burden of proof, Estoppel, Competence of witnesses, child witnesses, Hostile witnesses, S.165- Power of court to put questions or order production, Forensic Evidence, Electronic Evidence” .
The training programme was conducted under the guidance of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Chairman, Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy and Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Members of Governing Committee for J&K Judicial Academy.
The training programme was inaugurated by Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh and Member, Governing Committee for Judicial Academy. Pawan Dev Kotwal, Former District & Sessions Judge was the resource person in the programme.
In the inaugural session, Pawan Dev Kotwal remarked that the purpose of imparting training is to enhance the performance of Judicial Officers and to remove inhibitions while applying the provisions of law in their court work.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani emphasized that the concept of Justice is at the centre stage of any trial and the law of evidence which has the distinction of being applicable to both Civil and Criminal Cases, provides the methodology by which justice can be ensured. He also underscored that a characteristic feature of the Evidence Act is its moral dimension in protecting the innocent and highlighting the guilty person to administer complete and fair justice simultaneous to its unique capability of making innovative additions keeping in tune with the changing requirements of the time by new introductions without altering its basic structure.
Sanjay Parihar, Director, J&K Judicial Academy presented the welcome address and gave an overview of the programme. He stated that the objective of judicial education is to enhance professional excellence of judicial officers and augment their knowledge and skills in all pursuits of administration of justice.
In the first technical session, Sanjay Parihar and Pawan Dev Kotwal educated the judicial officers on various provisions of the Evidence Act. The participants were also guided on the relevancy and admissibility of evidence during trials. They also dealt in detail with the law governing admissions, confessions and exhibition of documents.
In the second technical session, detailed discussion was made on the provisions relating to presumptions, burden of proof and estoppel. The participants were educated on the topics of forensic and electronic evidence and competence of witnesses including child witnesses.