Guwahati: Chief justice of Gauhati high court, Justice Ashutosh Kumar, called for embedding empathy into the justice delivery system while protecting children’s rights, as he delivered the keynote address at the Assam Police Sishu Mitra Lecture Series on “Institutionalising Child Friendly Practices Across the Justice Delivery Chain”.In his remarks, the Chief Justice said, “Children are not citizens of the future; they are citizens of the present. Therefore, we all have a responsibility of upholding the rights of children, as enshrined in the law. A strong legal framework alone cannot make the law work, unless we have empathy.”
The programme was attended by judges of the Gauhati high court, including Justice Kalyan Rai Surana, Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, and Justice Mridul Kumar Kalita, alongside Judges of Pocso courts, senior officers from govt departments and the judiciary, duty bearers from the child protection system, and officers of the Assam Police.The lecture was organised under the aegis of the Assam Police Sishu Mitra Programme, with state director general of police, Harmeet Singh, delivering the welcome address. The event was organised in collaboration with Unicef and Utsah Child Rights Organisation, an Assam-based child rights NGO.
