Himachal HC gives a warm send-off to Justice Malimath on elevation as MP High Court CJ

Shimla: Justice Ravi Malimath, Acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, who has been elevated as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court was given a warm send-off on Monday at a full court reference held here in his honour at the High Court.

Judges of the High Court – viz Justice Sabina, Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Justice Sureshwar Thakur, Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Satyen Vaidya were present on the occasion.

Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua also attended the full court reference through virtual mode.

The Registrar General Virender Singh conducted the proceedings.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Malimath said during his tenure as senior most Judge and later Acting CJ, he had attempted to deliver real and speedy justice to the litigants despite Covid situation.

"The only thing that ought to be of paramount importance for a judge is the quality and pace of justice. Any decision that is taken, be it on the judicial or administrative side, must be just, fair and reasonable," Justice Malimath said.

During 105 days in this court, his Bench disposed of 1,511 main cases. He had envisioned many plans for the courts at Himachal Pradesh and numbers of progressive steps have been taken. He had developed an attitude of zero tolerance towards incompetency, inefficiency and insincerity.

Justice Malimath said the time period for removing the office objection has been enhanced from 20 days to 6 weeks in order to help the members of the Bar. The amendment was made in HP Judicial Services Rules 2004 for granting powers to the High Court to make recruitment to all class of judges in the district judiciary, which was a new beginning.

In addition to the administrative judges for each district, a new concept of having guardian judges for each district has been floated.

Justice Malimath had assumed office as Judge of the High Court on January 7, 2021. He was appointed as the Executive Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority on February 25, 2021. He assumed charge of the office of Chief Justice (Acting) on July 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, Justice Mohammed Rafiq, heading the Madhya Pradesh High Court, has been appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. Two judges of Himachal Pradesh High Court viz Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Sureshwar Thakur have been transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court.