Challenges and advantages of new CJ

Hyderabad High Court now has yet another new chief Justice. The outgoing Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta took over when the court had its summer recess in May 2013. He did have the task of heading the judicial wing in tumultuous times. He surely did far better than any of his predecessors.

It was during his term that he saw two of his colleagues moving to greener pastures. First Justice NV Ramana moved to being the Chief at Delhi and then moved on to the Supreme Court. Following him was Justice Rohini who went on to being the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Jyoti Sengupta , for most of the time, sat alongside PV Sanjay Kumar and the newspapers regularly reported the ever so many PIL cases that he adjudicated upon.

As he walks from the pinnacle of his illustrious career, I’m sure he would be a much satisfied man. His last tenure in office was packed with challenges. One vital aspect that would well be remembered is that he carried no bias or prejudice with him. This is so important for a judge. He sure had his shortcomings. His patience was not his strength.

His attention span and tolerance levels did not exactly please the Bar. His constant challenge was to deal with various petitions on the division of the State and the times of demands with regard to how the constitutional framework would pan out in the aftermath of the divide. History will surely talk of the role he played.

I will step back and let historians do their job. However the fact that the Bar has decided to not extend him a courtesy farewell reflects a high level of dissatisfaction at the manner in which he was treated by the Bar in general. In the blistering heat of early May Dilip B Bhosale will take over as the captain of a ship. He has had an advantage like a view from a vantage point and has had time to read the wicket for a while now as the senior most poise judge. This will help or at least should.

It is clear that the policy to have Chief Justices from outside has come to stay. Ever since we had Chief Justice Bhaskaran (remember the NTR case!!) we have always had a CJ from another state. However it’s for the first time that we have the incumbent at his work spot in prep. This should be made a practice. This helps the new chief to get on with his work straight away and not go about spending time testing the currents.

This aids in hands-on approach straight away and from the standpoint of the Bar a clear vision of what to expect from the incumbent. Chief Justice Bhosale brings in a decade of experience as a judge and hopefully would endear well to the Bar. There is one disturbing feature that requires attention. Come a new CJ and the pattern of work makes changes. For instance episodial evidence suggests that the outgoing Chief Justice was disapproving of judges sitting beyond the allotted time, especially in vacation courts.

Now this was a case of personal wisdom over a systemic pattern. The coming of new chief justices from other courts thus introduces new approaches. What makes the change a point of controversy is not the change in itself but that it is thrust and never debated- at least not transparently. Every chief not only brings innovation but also a belief that the replacing modus operandi is better.

It could be something as simple as to whether the print of the pleadings should be on two sides of the paper or one to something as important as to whether a detenue has to move a habeas corpus or ask for a mandamus. Personal wisdom over systemic experience is not the most balanced of scenarios. Add to this the habitual hue of the ‘Learned First Member’ syndrome and you invariably end up with a sub aerial thrust.

By L Ravichander