PANAJI
The All India Lawyers Association, Goa Branch, has criticised Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s recent remarks suggesting that lawyers take advantage of clients by delaying cases.
The association said the comment was general and unfair, and has demanded an apology.
In a strong response, it said delays in court cases are mainly due to administrative problems, not lawyers. It pointed to vacant judicial posts, frequent absence of Deputy Collectors and Mamlatdars, and poor connectivity as key reasons for cases being delayed.
“Blaming lawyers is misleading. The government should address system failures instead of blaming the profession,” the association said.
The Chief Minister made the remarks on Thursday at a Jan Kalyan camp in his Sanquelim constituency. He urged people to settle land and housing disputes through mediation instead of long court cases.
“People often spend more on lawyers than the actual value of their property. Use mediation. Take help from Salgaocar Law College’s ‘Janasarathi’ initiative,” he said.
He also spoke about government schemes such as Mhaje Ghar, which aims to regularise houses built on government or comunidade land, and announced plans for a Mhajo Flat scheme to resolve ownership of flats. He added that mundkar and forest rights claims would be cleared by December 31.
However, his remarks on legal costs and delays have drawn strong criticism from the legal community.
The association said the comments damage public trust in the profession and ignore the role lawyers play in the justice system.
“Our profession does not accept such remarks. We expect the Chief Minister to withdraw his statement and apologise,” the association said.
