Justice S.J. Kathawalla, Bombay High Court judge, continued to hear petitions till 3.30 am on the intervening night of May 4 and 5 to clear all the pending matters and urgent hearings that sought interim reliefs.
There were nearly over 100 civil petitions that were listed for urgent hearing. It is an extraordinary effort by justice Kathawalla on the last day before the beginning of month-long summer vacation. In addition, he returned to the court at 10 am on 5 May to finish pending work.
Justice Kathawalla has been working till 10 pm to midnight for around two weeks to end the backlog said practicing lawyers at Bombay High Court.
According to Senior counsel said, “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.”
Dhruti Kapadia, a solicitor in the Supreme Court, was awestruck by Justice Kathawalla’s zeal. “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. His zeal is in the interest of justice, and this way there would not be any pending cases.”
