SHILLONG, SEPT 20: Taking the mantle of the Meghalaya high court chief justice on Friday, Prafulla Chandra Pant said agitating by using peaceful means in a democratic setup is alright but nobody has the right to break the law.
Immediately after he was sworn in as the second chief justice of the Meghalaya high court by Meghalaya governor KK Paul in the Shillong Raj Bhavan, Pant said, “Everybody has the right to express their resentment but it should not be through violence.’.
The swearing in of Pant took place amidst the twelve hours bandh given by the pro-ILP activists demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma and his cabinet colleagues were present during Pant swearing in ceremony.
Commenting of the Supreme Court’s ban on bandhs, Pant said as long as agitations are held in a peaceful manner it is not a problem.
Speaking about his new role as the chief justice, Pant said, “As a chief justice, my duty is to try and understand the problems of the people, lawyers and other stakeholders and then to do the needful to redress their grievances.”
Pant said that he was here to serve the people of Meghalaya and will try to do to the best. Talking about the pendency of cases, he observed that there is not much pendency of cased and whatever is there he will make effort to decide at the earliest and also make others do the same.
Sixty one years old justice Pant succeeded justice T Meena Kumari who retired as chief justice of Meghalaya high court.
Prior to his present appointment, justice Pant was a judge in the Uttarakhand High court. Born in Pithoragarh district of then undivided Uttar Pradesh, he joined the UP Judicial Service in 1976 and held different posts.
After the creation of Uttarakhand, he was the first Secretary, judicial, of the state. He became additional judge of the Uttarakhand high court in June 2004 and a permanent judge in February 2008. –By Our Reporter
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