Folk dancers perform during the All Odisha Lawyers’ Conference in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 30: The fourth estate of democracy should not cross the limit to influence the legal process even though the media has been able to bring the failures of the present system to the light.

This was the crux of today’s deliberations at the seminar on “Role Of the Media in the Present Legal System” organised as part of the two-day lawyers’ conference that concluded here today.

The 40th All Odisha Lawyers’ Conference, Bhubaneswar, witnessed a gathering of many eminent lawyers of the state and young law professionals as well.

Speaking at the seminar, former vice-chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal, Manoranjan Mohanty said the media had the potential to influence judgments.

“The media has played a pro-active roll in bringing out the truth but at the same time ‘media trial’ should not take place,” said Mohanty.

General secretary, All Odisha Lawyers’ Association, Gyana Ranjan Mohanty said the media should stop making news simply to increase TRPs. “Sometimes the media misleads a judge by creating prejudice about a person or a particular incident, which can influence the judgment,” said Mohanty.

The speakers also dwelt on the role of media in the development of the country.

“Media trial has become an issue and plenty of such incidents have taken place, but the press should not be throttled,” said Milan Kanungo, member of the Odisha State Bar Council.

The members also took a dig at the Odisha government for not allocating land to the bar association and securing the matching grant for welfare fund.

“Last year the state government had promised to provide 100 decimal of land at BJB Nagar for the bar association. But the plan is lying in cold storage,” said Hrudananda Routray, president of the Bhubaneswar Bar Association.

At the valedictory session, member of Parliament Pyari Mohan Mohapatra asked lawyers to think about the plight of the poor who lose everything in an attempt to get justice. Mohapatra also promised to take up the demands of the association with the state government.

“I will intimate the state government about your demands,” said Mohapatra. He also asked for suggestions from common people to streamline the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

During the two-day conference, three seminars were held, including a seminar on “Necessity of Amending the Land Acquisition Act, 1894” and “The Role of Lawyers in the Present Legal System”.

On Thursday, retired justice of the Supreme Court Arijit Passayat had highlighted the role of judges and advocates in the judicial system. Justice Anang Kumar Pattnaik and former judge of Orissa High Court A.K. Ganguly had also participated in the seminar.