Advocate’s letter sparks off row in HC

Ahmedabad, April 01 On Monday, notice boards of the Gujarat High Court, otherwise full of case lists and routine announcements, played host to a strongly worded letter written by none other than Mihir Joshi, additional advocate general, Gujarat, raising questions about the conduct of affairs in the High Court and the 'integrity of the judges’.
In his letter, Joshi, himself a senior advocate, questioned the wisdom of having chief justices from outside the state. He said, ‘whispers regarding the integrity of some of the judges of our High Court have turned into shouts, which would be both unwise and difficult to ignore.’ The issue of judges mistreating junior advocates has also been raised.
The letter also questions the transfer of additional sessions judge, Sonia Gokani from the post of designated POTA Judge to Registrar (Recruitment) in the HC. Gokani, who had awarded the capital punishment in the Akshardham temple terrorist attack case, and had also tried the Haren Pandya murder case, was transferred just a day before the trial in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case was to begin.
In his letter, Joshi said that the policy of appointing chief justices from outside the state had not worked and ‘recent chief justices have either been disinterested, perfunctory or authoritarian’.
The letter addressed to advocate general Kamal Trivedi and K J Shethana, president of the High Court Bar Association, has sparked off an intense debate.
A reputed advocate, on conditions of anonymity said, “Joshi is a senior advocate and a person of integrity. He won't level charges just like that. In many ways that letter reflects the general feeling of the lawyers in the High Court. Judges are often close to retirement age when they are sent to a different state as the chief justice. It takes them a while to adjust to a new place and a get a feel of the administrative work. By the time that happens, they are either elevated to the Supreme Court or transferred to some other High Court. Most of them just retire.”
Lawyers said judges have been treating junior advocates shabbily. A lawyer wistfully rued, “When we started, there was a whole tradition of judges training junior advocates, making them read out judgments, encouraging them to argue. Now judges have no patience and are very rude.”
Reacting to the letter, Chief Justice Yad Ram Meena said that the policy of appointing chief justices from outside the home state was not something he could comment upon. Justice Meena said that the transfer decisions were taken by a committee of senior judges and not by him.
Now the High Court Bar Association has called for an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday to discuss the letter. Both Joshi and advocate general Kamal Trivedi have been asked to attend the meeting. Anil Dave, vice president of the associations said, “Joshi should substantiate his allegations. As of now, the letter is vague and does not mention any names. We cannot say anything just on the basis of allegation.”
Joshi, however, refused to comment on the letter when contacted by this paper.
Express news service
Posted online: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 at 02:54:11Updated: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 at 02:54:11