Visit to the High Court

“It is not the balance with two equal weights but one which is counter balanced in the complexities of the determinant factors: the length of the lever arms and the different weights which they support.” These were words of the architect behind the making of the building of the High Court, Le-Corbusier. My peers and I had the opportunity to visit this prestigious court, accompanied by our Legal Studies teacher, Ms. Nivedita Sood. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed by Adv. Manish Joshi, who was gracious enough to guide us throughout our visit. We began by taking a tour of the museum which was filled with historic artifacts, important documents known as Tablaks (high court files). We also saw the ancient tools, stamps and seals lawyers and judges used in earlier times. Information about some of India’s freedom fighters was also on display along with important legal documents and court cases they were involved in dating back decades. This was truly an enriching experience teaching us how far the Indian judicial and justice system has come.
We then moved on to the actual court premises. The architecture of the High Court is truly phenomenal with open gardens and colourful tapestries. We first visited the Chief Justice’s Court room where a Division Bench of the Chief Justice, Justice Sheel Nagu and another Judge were in action during a court proceeding. We then visited some more courts of other senior judges. Moving forward we went to the Library where we saw law books dating back to the 19th century filled with old case laws and acts. The way these ancient books were preserved was truly noteworthy.
Seeing the lawyers and judges work in the court truly gave us a new enthusiasm to study law as we returned home with a better grasp of the legal world.
~ Sukhmanpreet Kaur (XII MIK)