Stringent, scrupulous and simple. That had been the functioning style of Justice Hima Kohli since her first day of assuming charge as Telangana High Court Chief Justice on January 7 to the last day on Friday.
CJ Hima Kohli, who is going to assume charge as Supreme Court judge, proved this with her ‘to the point’ farewell speech delivered at the meeting held on HC premises on Thursday. Seven months and 20 days is too short a span for a CJ to bring in any major transformation.
Yet within that period, CJ Hima Kohli left her own mark on the HC carved out two years and seven months ago. In addition to making serious attempts to bring down pendency of cases, the CJ ensured PIL petitions were not filed casually.
Whenever new PIL pleas came up for hearing, the CJ insisted on knowing the locus standi of the petitioners and would not hear the matters if the petitioners were directly or indirectly connected to any contentious issues raised in the pleas. In fact, the CJ warned some PIL petitioners not to waste the court’s time when she found ‘private interests’ involved in such pleas. In a couple of cases, costs were imposed on such petitioners.
At the same time, the CJ acted tough in matters involving public interest, be it road conditions, illegal constructions or encroachment of public properties. Three days ago, the CJ warned city civic authorities of “serious repercussions” if the court’s orders were not complied with over removal of footpath encroachments. Witnessing multiple PIL petitions on a similar subject was not unusual in Telangana HC.
The CJ put an end to this pattern and would take one or two pleas as lead matters. She would direct lawyers representing other petitioners (filing pleas on same subject) to assist the court in adjudication of the lead matters. CJ Hima Kohli would be remembered for the seriousness with which she dealt with the contempt of court by officials.
Whenever contempt appeal pleas came up for hearing, the CJ made it clear that non-compliance of court directions by bureaucrats would not be taken lightly. The CJ passed clear instructions that whenever a government officer approached the HC division bench appealing against a punishment order by a single judge, the officer concerned should give an affidavit enlisting any previous cases of contempt matters he or she was involved in.
Listening to the CJ’s observations on different matters was like music to ears for English language fans as they were full of interesting idioms and phrases. “Twiddling thumbs...on a wing and a prayer...crossing Rubicon...much water has flown under the bridge..” were some of them.
The CJ took exception to inordinate delay in filing affidavits or counter affidavits especially by government different petitions. Having initially warned the bureaucrats, the CJ imposed costs on officials when they ignored the cautions.
Senior most judge of Telangana High Court M.S. Ramachandra Rao has been appointed to perform duties of the CJ of the HC in the backdrop of CJ Hima Kohli’s appointment as Supreme Court judge.
