Cuttack, Sept. 2: The need to strike “harmony between the bench and the bar” found mention at an event held to mark the 25th death anniversary of renowned barrister Ranjit Mohanty.

Paying tributes to the renowned barrister, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Amitava Roy said that the bench and bar are the two main constituents of the justice delivery system.

“We are a composite unit. We need to differ so that we can accommodate a cross-section of views. Only divergent views can compel us to think and come out with a proper judgment,” he said at the event organised by the Ranjit Mohanty Memorial Committee at the High Court Bar Association Hall.

Saying that the judiciary is facing the “real litmus test in the contemporary scenario”, Chief Justice Roy said: “It is absolutely imperative for the bench and the bar to comprehend and respect each other to maintain the credibility of the judiciary”.

He appealed to the members of the legal fraternity to realise their responsibility and live up to society’s expectations.

Roy described barrister Mohanty as “a messiah of the common man and the downtrodden” and “a doyen of Odisha’s legal fraternity who supported social causes when others chose to be silent”.

Barrister Mohanty was the youngest lecturer of law at Barcelona University in Spain. However, he left the job and joined the legal profession in Cuttack in 1955. He was the chairman of Bar Council of India for two consecutive terms. He was also an educationist and was one of the founders of the prestigious National Law School of India University, Bangalore.