Happy to serve in land with rich heritage and history: Indira Banerjee

Responding to welcome addresses by the Advocate General, chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and others, she said, “I am privileged to be appointed as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court which has a great heritage. The heritage adds additional burden on me.” 

Pointing out that the Madras High Court has produced many legal luminaries and contributed to the development of law, she said, “Its path breaking judgements in many branches of law is extensively citied in many high courts including Delhi and Calcutta.” 

Also, referring to the many firsts of the Madras high court, Chief Justice Banerjee said Muthuswamy Iyer was the first Indian advocate general and Justice Bashyam Iyengar was the first Indian chief justice of a high court. The Chief Justice on expressing her love for Tamil and as to how keen she is on learning it, said, “Tamil is one of the longest surviving classical languages. For long I wanted to learn the language and read Tamil Literature. I hope to get an opportunity to do that. Tamil is possibly the only language which is the official language in many foreign countries as well.”

She also recalled her visit to Tamil Nadu several times as a tourist and how she had admired its rich heritage and history. She also noted that the architecture is wonderful. 

In her address, the Chief Justice also sought the cooperation of the judges and lawyers. She said: “With the cooperation of my brother and sister judges and the cooperation of the Bar I am sure that I could live up to all of your expectations in discharging my constructional duty.”