Justice S.H. Kapadia today recused himself from another matter involving Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) as he held shares in the firm. Justice Kapadia, who had heard the matter for almost a year, decided to recuse himself as soon as it came up for hearing and conveyed the same to the parties, saying he had ITC shares.

PTI reported that Senior Counsel Harsh Salve, appearing for ITC, said that ITC did not have any objection to Justice Kapadia hearing the case. However, Senior counsel Fali S. Nariman, who was present in the court room for another matter, suggested Justice Kapadia not to hear the case.

Very rarely, we see a lawyer who is not part of the dispute raising objection of this nature. Fali Nariman, a respected Senior Advocate who has been fiercely vocal about bringing transparency in the justice delivery systems was bold enough to oppose the move. 

After the judges declared their assets, there have been a spate of recusals in the Supreme Court.  Justice Raveendran, Justice Katju and Justice Kapadia, all withdrew from hearing because of the conflict that may arise because of their pecuniary interest. However, Justice Raveendran withdrew from hearing the Reliance dispute citing a personal conflict.  

Read Vivek Reddy's column on recusal, "Conflicting Signals from the Supreme Court". 

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