Chief Justice R Banumathi at the workshop in Ranchi on Saturday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, Feb. 8: Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice R. Banumathi today emphasised on changing work culture at the grassroots level to improve overall performance of districts courts across the state.

Also, she urged principal district judges and other junior judicial officers to take personal interest in pending cases to minimise backlogs.

Justice Banumathi was speaking at a daylong workshop on “Effective District Court Administration for Principal District Judges and District Judges” organised by Judicial Academy, Jharkhand, on the premises of the high court.

“Judges should draw order sheets in their own hand-writing so that they are aware of the matters in hand and take effective steps for speedy disposal of cases,” she said addressing around 150 judicial officers from across the state.

Justice Banumathi added that “resource persons” should be identified from lower courts at the district level. “These resource persons will be trained and they in turn can train officers as well as other personnel to improve the system,” she explained.

Two books — Effective District Court Administration and A Handbook for High Court Staff on Practice, Procedure, Duties and Responsibilities” — were released at the workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, high court Justice D.N. Patel too stressed the importance of a proper work culture in the lower judiciary.

“Actions of judges at lower courts reflect the image of the judiciary system as a whole. Litigants enter court for the first time at the lower level and develop an impression about the entire judicial set up,” Justice Patel pointed out, urging judges to be very careful and serious about their work.

Echoing Patel, Justice R.R. Prasad, sitting judge of the high court, said training was an ongoing process.

“Training of judicial officers is important for a speedy and effective justice delivery system. The Judicial Academy, Jharkhand, is continuously working with the high court in this regard,” he added.