The week that was: The Bombay High Court

The week started off with the High Court getting a new Chief Justice, more than six months months after Justice Mohit Shah retired. On Monday, Justice D.H. Waghela was sworn-in as Chief Justice, with his oath administered by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan..Immediately thereafter, all the judges along with the new Chief were back in their court rooms. The new Chief now sits with V.K. Tahilramani J. in court room no.52..Samir Zaveri and Mumbai locals.One of the first matters of the week was Samir Zaveri’s fight for greater safety on the Mumbai local trains. The hearing began in Kanade J.’s court with Sachin Pawar filing an affidavit on the details of his sister’s death. Darshana Pawar died from a fatal blood loss after she fell on the tracks, and was refused treatment from three different hospitals..Kanade J. acknowledged the institutional insensitivity that Railways display when such accidents occur..Suresh Kumar, counsel for Railways said they were working towards a tie up with private hospitals for treatment of these accidents. He has been directed to file a reply on the issues raised.The matter will again be heard this week on February 25..Another case that came up before Justice Kanade was that of Aarti Thakur. Thakur, an acid attack victim, had sought compensation from the state government under the Manodhairya scheme. The High Court had earlier directed the State government to fund her plastic surgery; the Dean of JJ Hospital was asked to assist her in receiving treatment. Senior counsel Gayatri Singh, Thakur’s lawyer, sought an adjournment since Thakur needed more time to provide an estimate of the surgery costs. The next hearing is on February 29..The second PIL heard on Monday was in connection with the state’s failure in providing judicial infrastructure at Navi Mumbai. Two similar matters regarding construction of judicial quarters and courts in Panvel and Ahmednagar were tagged with this PIL..The Division Bench of A.S. Oka and C.V. Bhadang was informed that construction in Panvel has been up to speed, with the state government now trying to meet the deadlines at Ahmednagar, and Navi Mumbai..Farmer suicides in the Vidarbha.On Tuesday, a suo motu PIL on farmer suicides in the Vidarbha and Marathwada region was heard by Naresh H Patil and AA Sayed JJ. Advocate General Shrihari Aney focussed on the State’s response to farmer suicides. Aney is also the founder of Vidarbha Rajya Aghadi (VIRAA), an organisation which seeks separate statehood for Vidarbha..He said that a simple issue like release of funds for the victim’s family becomes an ordeal. In order to fast track this, Aney suggested that an officer no less than the rank of deputy collected must be placed in charge instead of a committee headed by the tehsildar. Aney requested the High Court to pass orders keeping all these issues in mind and assured state government’s compliance..The AG also marked an appearance in the PIL regarding illegal dumping of solid waste in the city. He said that stopping all construction activity in the city would be a knee jerk reaction with grave financial implications..To which Oka J replied:.“Something must be done. Construction of these buildings and structures directly results in generation of solid waste.”.The next date of hearing is February 24..The same day also saw Justice Oka hearing a PIL on the implementation of the Motor Vehicles Act. Petitioner Nikhil Wagle sought more details on the breath analyser devices used by the traffic police, arguing that these devices must be approved by the central government. Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani was seemingly unaware of the answer, and sought more time to file a reply. The matter will now be heard on February 25..Police raids at Madh Island.On Wednesday, Justice Kanade heard a PIL against the police raids conducted on hotels at Madh island that had led to the arrest of several young couples. Shilpa Jain, counsel for the petitioners said that moral policing is not sanctioned by law, and that police officers must be guided by the law alone..Kanade J said –. “We feel the privacy of individuals was violated due to these arrests and state police should be extra cautious in conducting such raids”.An order is expected to be passed soon, with the the next hearing on March 10..Illegal shrines, political hoardings.Illegal political posters, a recurring cause of action , resurfaced on Thursday in Justices Oka and Bhadang’s J courtroom. There was plenty of drama, with the court hearing contempt petitions against a number of political parties and their volunteers. The division bench imposed a fine of twenty thousand rupees on 12 party workers from the BJP and three MLA’s. One of the legislators is from the MNS and the other two are from the BJP..The money collected would be donated towards an NGO working for farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada..The High Court also heard a PIL seeking the demolition of illegal shrines in accordance with a 2011 government resolution. Although compliance reports were filed by the state and the BMC, Oka J. observed that the process of demolition was very slow; only 10% of the illegal shrines have been demolished..The next date of hearing was fixed April 6, giving the state authorities plenty of time to speed up the process.