Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit is a deeply religious person but truly embraces secular values, Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai said on Saturday..He also said that the new CJI has a sharp mind and a profound knowledge in Sanskrit."He is friendly, possesses a sharp brilliant mind, he is witty, well read, has deep knowledge in Sanskrit. He narrated the Atharva Shirshak in such a calm voice. It is surprising that a lawyer like him has such knowledge of Sanskrit. Though he is deeply religious he is truly secular," Justice Gavai said.Justice Gavai was speaking at a felicitation function organised for CJI Lalit by the High Court Bar Association of Nagpur, Bombay High Court. .Justice Gavai also said that the CJI is someone who is open to ideas from all judges including junior judges and this was evident from the very first full court meeting held after Justice Lalit took over as CJI."He hears ideas of all judges. He held a full court meeting of all judges hours after he took over as CJI. When meetings were held in the past, it was mostly for assignment (of cases). But when Justice Lalit joined, he took suggestions even from junior judges," Justice Gavai said..Justice Gavai also commended the CJI;s efforts in augmenting the functioning of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). "When he took over NALSA, people came to know of NALSA. For 42 days, he was travelling to nook and corner of India to inform people of their rights. He would work for 5 days and then from Friday to Sunday he travelled," Justice Gavai said..The CJI's reforms towards listing of cases also found mention in Justice Gavai's speech.The CJI had introduced a significant change as regards hearing of cases in Supreme Court on non-miscellaneous days (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).From August 30, the apex court on non-miscellaneous days, has been hearing regular matters in the morning session (10.30 am to 1 pm) and miscellaneous and after notice matters in the afternoon session (2 pm to 4 pm).The norm earlier was to take up miscellaneous matters first and then proceed to the regular-hearing. This meant that regular list would not many times be taken up due to a paucity of time. The news system seeks to rectify this, something which Justice Gavai also highlighted in his speech."The first problem was of pending old cases, because those matters were never touched. Mondays to Friday was full of miscellaneous matters for admitting petitions. Litigants would be waiting for their matters to be heard. He changed that. Monday and Friday continue to be miscellaneous days, but on other days we cater to old matters (regular hearing cases) in the morning," he said.The event was also attended by retired Supreme Court judge Justice VS Sirpurkar and Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta. .[Read our coverage of the event below]
Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit is a deeply religious person but truly embraces secular values, Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai said on Saturday..He also said that the new CJI has a sharp mind and a profound knowledge in Sanskrit."He is friendly, possesses a sharp brilliant mind, he is witty, well read, has deep knowledge in Sanskrit. He narrated the Atharva Shirshak in such a calm voice. It is surprising that a lawyer like him has such knowledge of Sanskrit. Though he is deeply religious he is truly secular," Justice Gavai said.Justice Gavai was speaking at a felicitation function organised for CJI Lalit by the High Court Bar Association of Nagpur, Bombay High Court. .Justice Gavai also said that the CJI is someone who is open to ideas from all judges including junior judges and this was evident from the very first full court meeting held after Justice Lalit took over as CJI."He hears ideas of all judges. He held a full court meeting of all judges hours after he took over as CJI. When meetings were held in the past, it was mostly for assignment (of cases). But when Justice Lalit joined, he took suggestions even from junior judges," Justice Gavai said..Justice Gavai also commended the CJI;s efforts in augmenting the functioning of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). "When he took over NALSA, people came to know of NALSA. For 42 days, he was travelling to nook and corner of India to inform people of their rights. He would work for 5 days and then from Friday to Sunday he travelled," Justice Gavai said..The CJI's reforms towards listing of cases also found mention in Justice Gavai's speech.The CJI had introduced a significant change as regards hearing of cases in Supreme Court on non-miscellaneous days (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).From August 30, the apex court on non-miscellaneous days, has been hearing regular matters in the morning session (10.30 am to 1 pm) and miscellaneous and after notice matters in the afternoon session (2 pm to 4 pm).The norm earlier was to take up miscellaneous matters first and then proceed to the regular-hearing. This meant that regular list would not many times be taken up due to a paucity of time. The news system seeks to rectify this, something which Justice Gavai also highlighted in his speech."The first problem was of pending old cases, because those matters were never touched. Mondays to Friday was full of miscellaneous matters for admitting petitions. Litigants would be waiting for their matters to be heard. He changed that. Monday and Friday continue to be miscellaneous days, but on other days we cater to old matters (regular hearing cases) in the morning," he said.The event was also attended by retired Supreme Court judge Justice VS Sirpurkar and Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta. .[Read our coverage of the event below]
