Bombay High Court judge hears pleas till 3.30 in morning

Mumbai: In a historic event, Bombay high court judge Justice S.J. Kathawalla continued hearing petitions till 3.30 am on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. The judge was hearing pleas that needed hearing on an urgent basis before the month-long summer vacation. In addition, Justice Kathawalla returned to the court at 10 am on Saturday to finish pending work.

According to lawyers practicing in the Bombay high court, Justice Kathawalla has been working till 10 pm to midnight for around two weeks to end the backlog, and he came in the courtroom at 10 am on Friday and was hearing matters and passing orders till 3.30 am the following day. He only took a 20-minute break and his staff also worked with him for the entire duration.

Dhruti Kapadia, who practices as a solicitor in the Supreme Court, was awestruck by Justice Kathawalla’s zeal. “I had to catch a flight for Delhi but our matter was listed for hearing at Justice Kathawalla’s court, and he continued hearing the matter till late in the night. I was very happy about this zeal; he completes matters and passes the order. He doesn’t give an adjournment, so I didn’t want to go without arguing our case. Officers of the municipal corporation were present with me till 11 pm and even they didn’t complain about having to wait in court after their working hours because they also understood that such kind of zeal is in the interest of justice, and this way there would not be any pending cases,” said Ms Kapadia.

Advocate Mayur Khandeparker, who was in Justice Kathawalla’s court past 3 am, said it was a wonderful experience. “It’s commendable that he sat through till 3.30 am and disposed of matters.” He added, “The best part of it was that the judge didn’t rush anyone because it was past midnight. He decided every matter, gave every party time to make their submissions, patiently heard them and then passed orders.”

There were over 100 civil petitions that were listed for urgent hearing. Lawyers practicing in the Bombay high court know that Justice Kathawalla often begins court proceedings at 10 am and he keeps hearing the matters beyond 5 pm, the official working time of the high court.

As per current assignments, Justice Kathawalla hears cases pertaining to arbitration, intellectual property rights and commercial matters. Justice Kathawalla (59) was sworn in as an additional judge at the high court in 2009 and became a permanent judge in July 2011.