99% cases in court against govt: Justice Serto

Gauhati High Court (GHC) judge and executive chairman of Nagaland State Legal Services Authority, Justice Songkhupchung Serto on Saturday said that 99% of the cases in High Court were against the government observing that most bureaucrats commit mistakes due to lack of knowledge on the law.
He said this while addressing law students of Kohima Law College during an interaction programme at the college premise, a press note issue by PRA, NSLSA stated.
Justice Serto also lamented that new laws were not being introduced by the legislators, which was one of the reasons why the North Eastern states have very less laws governing the people. He pointed out that minor amendments are made only during emergencies or when situation arises.
While stating that the government is governed by the law, Serto opined that: “If every administrator, bureaucrat, legislator studies law for three years, they will become better at their profession,” adding that law was dynamic, a continuous process and subject to change to feed the need of the society.
While maintaining that law was the “science of life”; Justice Serto said “it gives a person the way to live, to differentiate between the right and wrongs, one’s duties towards others and society and other’s duties towards us.”
Citing the example of law graduates like Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawaharlal Nerhu and BR Ambedkar, who made important contribution to the law of the country, justice Serto said they were the conscience keepers of the nation. Therefore, he said, law was a subject which everyone needed to study.
Encouraging the students, he said law as a career option was limitless and called to explore beyond getting stuck with senior advocates or becoming law graduates.
Meanwhile, the programme was chaired by assistant professor Kezhokhoto Savi while GHC Kohima bench registrar Neiko Akami and joint registrar Atoka Achumi also addressed the programme.