The Indian judiciary needs to speed up its working style as there are a number of cases pending for many years.
When most of the judges of Bombay High Court don’t work after the official closing time of 5 pm, Justice Shahrukh J Kathawalla has been setting example by working without looking at the clock.
Friday was the last working day of the court before summer break and Justice Kathawalla worked till 3.30 am, hearing arguments of the lawyers on the petitions that needed interim relief.
A senior lawyer who was also present in Justice Kathawalla’s court till the end told,
“The courtroom was packed with senior counsels, lawyers and litigants, whose matters were being heard. There were over 100 civil petitions that had sought urgent interim reliefs.”
This is not the first time that Justice Kathawalla has worked till late hours as two weeks ago, he listened to cases till midnight.
Another lawyer Praveen Samdani said,
“Justice Kathawalla, even at that hour (3.30 am), was as fresh as one would be in the morning. My matter was one of the last ones to be heard. Even then the judge heard our arguments patiently and passed orders.”
Justice Kathawalla has a reputation of working more than other judges as usually also he starts the functioning of his court at 10 am that is one hour earlier in comparison to other judges and sits after 5 pm as well, listening to hearings.
As per a courtroom staff member, despite the fact that he worked till 3.30 am, he was back in his chamber on time to finish his remaining work.
Kudos to him!
Our country needs more such dedicating judges. What do you say?