Madras HC CJ yet to come to grips with new posting

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 29. The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Mr. Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, on Saturday said he was yet to come to grips with his new post and hoped that his experience in the Andhra Pradesh High Court would keep him in good stead.

Responding to felicitations accorded to him by the A.P. Judicial Academy, of which he was a member and president of the Board of Governors, the Chief Justice said if he lived up to the expectations of people of Tamil Nadu, it would be on the strength of his "unforgettable" experience in the A.P. High Court. He was felicitated by Mr. Justice S.R. Nayak of the A.P. High Court and president of the academy.

Referring to the description of the Madras High Court as one of the premier courts in the country by an earlier speaker, he said the A.P. High Court was no less superior. "They are on a par. The A.P. High Court is not lagging behind. It has given some of the finest judges. The only difference is that the Madras High Court is a chartered High Court set up way back in 1862". He went on to remark jocularly, "I was sent from my mother's place to the in- laws' place".

He said compared to the A.P. Judicial Academy, the Madras Judicial Academy had not made a mark. After he had assumed office, he called for a meeting on September 12, following which the fourth refresher course is now under way on gender justice, cyber laws, forensic science and Information Technology. There was need for popularising cyber laws and forensic science.

Mr. Justice Subhashan Reddy said he had differed on some occasions with the earlier Chief Justice of the A.P. High Court and a few other judges but it was only in the way one looked at certain issues. "After all dissent is the essence of democracy. But we never allowed these differences to affect the judgment. The majority decision always formed the basis".

The judges of the State High Court paid him compliments on his elevation. Mr. Justice Nayak described Mr. Justice Reddy as affectionate person, broad-minded in approach and articulate judge. "He has gone there at a time when the institutions there are confronted with challenges".

Mr. Justice B.S.A. Swamy, member of the Board of Governors of the academy, said Mr. Justice Reddy discharged his judicial functions without fear or favour. "It is a loss to Andhra Pradesh but a gain to the place he is posted". Mr. Justice Bilal Nazki, another member, said it should be a matter of pride for the judges of the A.P. High Court that Mr. Justice Reddy had been elevated to the post of Chief Justice of one of the three premier courts in the country.

Mr. M. Venkateswara Reddy, Director of the academy, spoke. Mr. N. Ravishankar, Additional Director of the academy, proposed a vote of thanks.

The A.P. Judicial Academy president, Mr. Justice S.R. Nayak, presenting a memento to Mr. Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, at a felicitation function in Hyderabad on Saturday as Mr. Justice Bilal Nazki looks on. - Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Court building violates norms?

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 29. Is the eight-storeyed building being constructed on the A.P. High Court premises in violation of building bylaws? No less than the A.P. High Court judge, Mr. Justice B.S.A. Swamy, took the judicial officers by surprise by revealing this on Saturday.

Speaking at a function organised by the A.P. Judicial Academy to felicitate Mr. Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, he said it was Mr. Justice Reddy who prepared the plan for the eight-storeyed building for present and future requirements. "But I came to know in the course of a judgment that it is in violation of building bylaws", he said, adding "whatever tasks left unfinished by you will be accomplished."

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