Outgoing judge found Guj court staff slow
TNN, Aug 21, 2010, 03.28am IST
AHMEDABAD: Justice Bhagwati Prasad of Gujarat High Court feels that the court department was too slow to keep up with the speedy disposal of cases. Justice Prasad has been transferred to the Jharkhand High Court and will take oath in Ranchi as chief justice soon.
The judge spent nearly two and half years in the Gujarat High Court and on several occasions he reprimanded the court registry because the department could not supply papers on time. At one point, he even expressed doubts in an open court if he was discriminated against because he was not from this state.
"I disposed of nearly 10,000 cases here in my stay of above two years. But in many criminal appeals, the registry could not provide paper books in time. They could not cope with the speed of the court," he said.
Justice Prasad last year refused to hear an appeal against Pota court order in Haren Pandya case. He expressed displeasure against conduct of the advocates, who did not supply English translation of documents in time. "I know English and Hindi, and the material was in Gujarati. I asked for translation, but they were supplying translated copies in instalments. I am not supposed to deliver my judgement in instalments. I refused to hear the case," the judge said.
During his stint, Justice Prasad had presided over in an important case challenging the Pota Review Committee recommendations in the sensational Godhra carnage case. He ordered for dropping terror charges in this case.
When asked about his views regarding the Naxalism-affected region where he is going, Justice Prasad said that violence is not something that the state of Gujarat does not witness. "Just few days ago, one person was brutally killed outside this high court only," he said referring to the murder of RTI activist Amit Jethava. The judge said that courts are not meant to reduce violence in society, but to adjudicate in criminal cases.
No comments:
Post a Comment