New Chief Justice of Madras High Court flooded with requests on day one.

Source –

The new Chief Justice of Madras High Court Amreshwar Pratap Sahi found himself flooded with requests from the Bar right on the first day of his assumption of office and the requests ranged from adequate representation for women in elevation as judges of the court to construction of an automated multi-level vehicle parking facility on the court premises.

After the customary welcome by Advocate General Vijay Narayan and chairman of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry P.S. Amalraj, vice-president of Madras High Court Advocates Association R. Sudha came up with a long list of requests which included laying good roads on the premises, providing safe drinking water and space for a digital library.

When a similar request, relating to maintenance of an existing car parking area outside the High Court premises, was made by another lawyer when the Chief Justice presided over the court proceedings along with Justice Subramonium Prasad, the CJ asked the Bar to give him a week or two so that he got a hang of the High Court premises before starting to act.

In his reply to the welcome accorded to him by the Bar, the CJ said, “Law for me has been life itself and life is nothing but what is reflected through literature. Law and literature, combined together make life and you all know literature depicts life and law regulates life.” He thanked the Bar here for making him feel at home and for their familial warmth.

Women judges

On a request made by Ms. Sudha for adequate representation for women in elevation as judges of the court, the CJ recalled women who had contributed immensely to the justice delivery system and said, amidst thunderous laughter, that the “General Clauses Act defines that she includes he and women include men.”

Praising the State for its rich contribution not only to the march of law but also in all other spheres of life, he said he had come to a land whose canvass was so widespread that it begins from divinity by Thiruvalluvar to infinity by acclaimed mathematician Srinivasan Ramanujan.

Speaking on the role of the Bar and Bench, he said: “After all what does a common man aspire for? A common man does not know the rigmarole or the semantics or the jugglery or the gymnastics or catapults that go on in courts. He only wants the highest sense that one aspires for and that is justice. I think the common man needs it more today than he needed ever.”

Later, in the day, the CJ insisted that public interest litigation petitions should be filed after a comprehensive research on the subject concerned and after collecting enough material. He insisted that the PIL litigants should point out specifics in their affidavits rather than making general statements and seeking omnibus prayers.

Advice to lawyers

When advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam sought permission to move a PIL petition urgently regarding air pollution in Chennai city, the CJ asked him to take time and file the case after a thorough research. He made a similar suggestion to the advocate when another case filed regarding dengue came up for hearing.

The CJ asked the lawyer to file a detailed affidavit listing out the shortcomings in each of the 200 wards in Greater Chennai Corporation and what must be done to address the menace of dengue. “Don’t expect them (Corporation officials) to serve as humble servants. They will have to be driven to do it,” he said before granting four weeks for the lawyer to file his affidavit.