The Bar and Judges must exhort each other to do better: Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw bids farewell to Delhi High Court

Delhi High Court judge, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw on Wednesday bid adieu to the Court on the eve of his retirement, during an event conducted by the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA)..Justice Endlaw spoke at length about the "tight ship" he ran in his courtroom, observing, "The Bar and Judges must exhort each other to do better." .Responding in lighter vein to the anecdotes shared by other attendees regarding his reputation as a tough judge, Justice Endlaw shared an anecdote himself.."Before lockdown, someone came up to me, and introduced himself, he said he had appeared before me five years ago and I had blasted him. He told me that since then, he never appeared without knowing the law. I don’t know if they understood that was the point all along," he said. .In his rather candid farewell speech, Justice Endlaw reminisced about his memories in the High Court canteen with other judges and members of the Bar.“The Canteen really is the hub of our Court without which all of us now look so lost and cut off from each other.”.He requested the Bar Association to allow non-practicing Bar members as well to visit the canteen."I was going through the Delhi High Court's website. And I couldn't find any category to fit in, unless I'm guided by you all, so I can come back to the canteen as a member, if not as a judge, after remitting the office!" he said. .Looking back, President of the DHCBA Mohit Mathur said, "His command over law and language has inspired batches of students. They knew they had to keep their socks up and be fully prepared. It was clear what would happen if they go in front of the bench semi-prepared or unprepared. The fate of such lawyers is still the talk of canteen.".DHCBA Secretary Abhijat seconded Mathur's sentiments about Justice Endlaw and how his strictness came from being a disposal-oriented Judge. ."When I joined the profession, and it had only been 5-6 years in practice. There was a partition suit we were dealing with, we were granted interim orders in that matter. The case went on for few years, it was kept pending with interim relief continued. Lawyers of both sides were happy.Then one day, my colleague who was dealing in this case told me that it has been listed before Justice Endlaw. My first response was to tell him to forget about the interim relief, as it will be difficult for the suit to even survive. Luckily, justice Endlaw was on leave that day and we were saved," Advocate Abhijat recounted. .Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court on April 11, 2008 and became Permanent Judge on July 6, 2011.Prior to his elevation, he practiced law in the Delhi High Court and the subordinate courts mainly on the original side in the fields of real estate, family, civil and arbitration laws..The virtual farewell ended with the Vice President Advocate Jatan Singh's vote of thanks. ."I thank the Chief Justice, all Hon'ble Justices who have spared time to join this virtual farewell, members of the bar association and the executive members who have in a short time arranged this virtual farewell", he said.