Chief minister Nitish Kumar and Patna High Court Chief Justice Rekha M Doshit inaugurate the one-day seminar-cum-workshop, “Criminal Justice System: Problems and Solutions”, at SK Memorial Hall in Patna on Saturday. Nitish stressed the need to keep up the momentum of speedy trials to establish “rule of law in a democracy” through judicial process. Chief Justice Doshit urged judicial officers to employ scientific methods while handling cases. She asked in how many cases, photographs of the crime scene, or of the accused, victims, or fingerprints were submitted before the court. Only statements were produced, she said. She also took strong exception to the growing tendency of subordinate courts handing out death sentences. Had judicial officers gone through evidence properly while framing charges, around 70 per cent of trials could have been avoided, she said. The seminar-cum-workshop was organised by the home department in collaboration with Bihar Judicial Academy. Text by Anand Raj, picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh