Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday heaped praises on Justice SS Shinde of the Bombay high court for his bench on Thursday sat from 10.30am to 8pm and heard over 190 cases, extending the work hours much beyond the schedule. The bench had over 200 matters for hearing on Thursday, Bar and Bench reported. “I’m very happy to learn that Justice SS Shinde of Bombay High Court had heard over 190 cases yesterday. He sat in the bench from 10.30am to 8pm!” Kiren Rijiju tweeted along with the photo of his chamber.
The usual working hour of the high court is from 10.30am to 4.30pm. It is not uncommon for courts to operate till late at night because of emergency hearings, but hearing 190 cases in a day at a time when the pace of judicial work is much criticised sets a new precedent.
According to Bar and Bench, Justice SJ Kathawalla, who recently retired, once heard 150 matters in one sitting.
Justice SS Shinde is the third senior-most judge of the Bombay high court and is due to retire in a month. His name has been recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium as the new Chief Justice of the Rajasthan high court.
Justice SS Shinde has handled several high profile cases in the past few years including Elgar Parishad, the abetment to suicide case against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, the cases against former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh and Bollywood Kangana Ranaut.