Jammu: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh today hosted a training workshop on “Conversion of Court Room into VWDC” in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Judicial Academy in Jammu under the auspices of the Vulnerable Witness Committee (Constituted by Supreme Court of India).
The Vulnerable Witness Committee for UT of J&K, which is comprised of Justice Sanjay Dhar, Chairperson, Justice Mohammad Akram Chowdhary, and Justice Rajesh Sekhri, Members, was in charge of organising the event under the sponsorship of Justice N Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of J&K and Ladakh. In addition to Justice Rahul Bharti, judge of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, Justice Puneet Gupta also attended the event.
The initiative was created to provide direction for Judges and other parties involved in creating and modifying court structures, such as Legal Aid attorneys, architects, and engineers. Architects, officers, and engineering staff from the Department of Public Works (R&B) participated in the training session both physically and virtually. Also present were judicial officials of all grades and legal aid attorneys.
A thorough powerpoint presentation on the conversion of courtrooms into vulnerable witness deposition centres was given by Justice Gita Mittal, a former Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Chairperson of the Vulnerable Witness Committee (established by the Supreme Court of India). She stressed that the Vulnerable Witness Courtroom has been conceptualised and operationalized to address the many drawbacks and hurdles faced by vulnerable witnesses in traditional Courtrooms.
She also emphasised that numerous processes from inquiry to adjudication are laid out in the rules so that vulnerable witnesses may feel secure and at ease while giving their testimony. She also urged the need for maintaining a court setting that is in the vulnerable witnesses’ best interests so that they are addressed and handled delicately from their homes to the fragile witness deposition facilities and within.
Justice Sanjay Dhar, Judge, High Court of J&K and Ladakh, and Chairperson, Committee for Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres, UT of J&K, emphasised the significance of the Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres as the safe places for witnesses of a vulnerable nature so that they can depose fearlessly and without any pressure in his welcome address. He also emphasised the need to update the current facilities that are in use in J&K as well as the existing Courts in order to transform them into Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres.
In his vote of gratitude, Justice Mohammad Akram Chowdhary, Judge of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, and Members of the Committee for the Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centre, UT of J&K, hailed the witnesses as vital resources and the system’s eyes and ears. Additionally, His Lordship emphasised that the parties must move swiftly to address the particular needs of each vulnerable witness and their vulnerability-related concerns.
An interactive session during which the audience members asked questions that were adequately answered served to highlight the programming.
