After the Delhi High Court Bar Association, it is now the turn of senior members of the Bar to stand in solidarity with the Bench..An article published by Times of India three days ago had reported that a disgruntled litigant, Ram Prashad, had written a letter to Chief Justice of India TS Thakur complaining about the alleged “tardy disposal of cases” by Justice Gita Mittal..The complainant, who claims to be a litigant suffering as a result of Justice Mittal’s alleged slow disposal, has added in the letter a number of facts and figures supporting his claim. The letter also alleged that Justice Mittal sits for less than an hour every day, and had urged Chief Justice Thakur to intervene and ensure that she sits in the court for the full duration of five hours..This news report has caught the attention of the senior members of the Bar, who have registered their strongest protest against it..The senior members have sent a letter sent to the Editor of ToI, in support of the judge. The letter was endorsed by KK Venugopal, Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee, PP Rao, and Indira Jaising, among other Senior Advocates. It states that that no verification or due diligence was carried out by the newspaper before publishing the report as there is no litigant named “Ram Prashad” before Justice Mittal.. The letter also speaks about Justice Mittal’s qualities as a judge. “Justice Mittal has been a widely respected Justice known for her integrity and competent handling of sensitive and complicated cases…Justice Mittal has taken several initiatives such as the establishment of vulnerable witness centres….…Any lawyer who has had a chance to appear before her would vouchsafe about her compassion and patience which, in many cases, involved sustained efforts in chamber…”.Referring to the increasing threat to the independence of the judiciary, the letter goes on to state,.“The manner in which this entire reportage has been undertaken exposes a larger threat to the independence of judiciary wherein by linking justicing to misleading disposal statistics, vested interests can attempt to further a hidden agenda which may not be apparent on the surface.”.They have also condemned TOI for “scandalous and unfair reporting” and have asked the paper to publish an unconditional apology..Earlier, the Delhi High Court Bar Association had passed a resolution defending Justice Mittal and condemning the article by Times of India..View the letter:
After the Delhi High Court Bar Association, it is now the turn of senior members of the Bar to stand in solidarity with the Bench..An article published by Times of India three days ago had reported that a disgruntled litigant, Ram Prashad, had written a letter to Chief Justice of India TS Thakur complaining about the alleged “tardy disposal of cases” by Justice Gita Mittal..The complainant, who claims to be a litigant suffering as a result of Justice Mittal’s alleged slow disposal, has added in the letter a number of facts and figures supporting his claim. The letter also alleged that Justice Mittal sits for less than an hour every day, and had urged Chief Justice Thakur to intervene and ensure that she sits in the court for the full duration of five hours..This news report has caught the attention of the senior members of the Bar, who have registered their strongest protest against it..The senior members have sent a letter sent to the Editor of ToI, in support of the judge. The letter was endorsed by KK Venugopal, Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee, PP Rao, and Indira Jaising, among other Senior Advocates. It states that that no verification or due diligence was carried out by the newspaper before publishing the report as there is no litigant named “Ram Prashad” before Justice Mittal.. The letter also speaks about Justice Mittal’s qualities as a judge. “Justice Mittal has been a widely respected Justice known for her integrity and competent handling of sensitive and complicated cases…Justice Mittal has taken several initiatives such as the establishment of vulnerable witness centres….…Any lawyer who has had a chance to appear before her would vouchsafe about her compassion and patience which, in many cases, involved sustained efforts in chamber…”.Referring to the increasing threat to the independence of the judiciary, the letter goes on to state,.“The manner in which this entire reportage has been undertaken exposes a larger threat to the independence of judiciary wherein by linking justicing to misleading disposal statistics, vested interests can attempt to further a hidden agenda which may not be apparent on the surface.”.They have also condemned TOI for “scandalous and unfair reporting” and have asked the paper to publish an unconditional apology..Earlier, the Delhi High Court Bar Association had passed a resolution defending Justice Mittal and condemning the article by Times of India..View the letter:
