A Delhi HC judge looks back on helping children, razing encroachments, and forcing private hospitals to provide beds to the poor
My forefathers migrated from Haryana to Delhi in 1863 and lived in the Pahari Dhiraj neighbourhood of old Delhi. Our entire family was in business; I am the first generation to go into the legal profession. I graduated from Sri Ram College of Commerce and then got an Ll.B followed by an MA in political science. I have always believed that Man is incomplete without studying history and political science. In 1969, I joined the bar at Tis Hazari Courts and started working with a senior advocate, VC Mishra, who later became a High Court judge. (Strangely, after retirement he headed straight to Vrindavan instead of his home and became an ascetic.)
I was very active in politics as a student and was elected General Secretary of the All-India Students Congress in 1964 when K Kamaraj was Congress President. I was only 18 years old. I became very close to VK Krishna Menon, whom I admired a great deal. When he donated his property to the nation, I was the witness to his Will. He donated around 5,000 books to the Jawaharlal Nehru Library at Teen Murti Bhavan.
In 1965, when Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister, it appeared to Indira Gandhi that that year Nehru’s birth anniversary celebrations were too low-key. She discussed this with Krishna Menon who then sent me to meet her. She expressed her unhappiness to me, too. Krishna Menon told me to organize public meetings in Delhi and in the university area to celebrate Nehru’s birthday. I held about 15 rallies and was lauded within the party.
Throughout my legal career, I was a civil lawyer except once when I advocated a criminal case of VC Shukla and Sanjay Gandhi. In 1971, I won the municipal poll from Deputy Ganj on a Congress ticket. In those days, the party had internal democracy. But after the Emergency was imposed in 1975, I became personally disappointed with the Congress. Sanjay Gandhi, with whom I did not get along, was the boss.
I finally became disenchanted with politics and began to devote all my time and energy to my profession. Even during my days in politics, I had kept in touch with my profession and had fought cases off and on. After I decided to practice full time, I started earning name and fame in court. I was designated a senior advocate suo moto by the High Court.
When PV Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister in 1991, Justice GC Mittal was Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. One day, I went to meet him and recommended one of my friends for appointment as a High Court judge. Mittal said he would consider my friend’s case later and instead asked me to become a judge. I was taken aback. The salary of a High Court judge was only Rs 8,000, whereas I was earning well in my practice. I discussed the matter with my family. My mother and wife supported me and my children, though young, also liked the idea. Being an extrovert, I had a vast circle of friends and I felt it would be difficult for me to perform as a judge. In any case, it had never been my ambition.
When I was appointed a judge of Delhi High Court on December 18, 1992, I felt like a fish out of water. I was a permanent judge from Day 1 and had no time to adjust to my new avatar. A few days after the appointment, at 4 pm, the hour at which the court usually wound up, I noticed the presence of a large number of children in the court. I asked why they were in the court and was told they had been selected to participate in the national games but could not fly to Madurai as the government had not sanctioned the funds in time. I ordered that they be sent immediately and the formalities and technicalities be completed later. I still recall the faces of the children beaming with joy.
On another occasion, a petition came before us and we asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) how many unauthorized colonies there were. The MCD said it had booked 18,000 unauthorized colonies. Upon this admission, we told them to demolish all and dismiss the engineers on duty when the colonies became habitations. There were sale deeds, and electricity and water supply in these colonies. The question was, who promoted these colonies and what was the government doing? We simply brought in the law to overcome lawlessness in the city.
When the police, engineers, and MCD started filing inaccurate affidavits, we set up monitoring committees and appointed 10 local commissioners as a method of judicial intervention. We found out that government property worth Rs 7,000 crore had been encroached upon illegally. I ordered the land vacated of unauthorized occupants. You need guts and commitment to take action.
I also got the Yamuna bed cleared of unlawful encroachment. About 80,000 illegal factories were also removed. I asked traffic officials to ensure that traffic from other states having no business in Delhi is not allowed to enter.
When I found that all the private hospitals got land allotted at concessional rates, I ordered them to make 20 per cent of their beds available to those who could not afford their treatment
I have always felt that the judiciary should work to ameliorate the quality of life of the common citizen of India. I allowed the Metro administration to work. I said that private convenience must give way before public convenience. I ordered that 20 per cent of seats should be allotted in every public school for the common man. When I found that all the private hospitals got land allotted at concessional rates, I ordered them to make 20 per cent of their beds available to those who could not afford their treatment. Law is meaningless if it doesn’t take into consideration social justice. There used to be dividers on Delhi’s roads everywhere, causing traffic jams. I appointed a committee of Deputy Commissioners of Police as a convener and ordered that all right side turns be closed.
A person should not have to travel more than 20 km from his home to seek justice. Sadly, people travel day and night to reach courts. Justice should be cost-effective, speedy and accessible to the common man
A person should not have to travel more than 20 km from his home to seek justice. Sadly, people travel day and night to reach courts. Justice should be cost-effective, speedy and accessible to the common man. If any one of these is missing, the people’s faith in the judiciary will be eroded. Fortunately, despite delay and cost, people still have faith in the judiciary.
I was appointed Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on November 28, 2006 after serving Delhi High Court for almost 14 years. When I joined, I found a total mess. There were 1.2 million cases pending – 5.6 lakh from Punjab, 5.2 lakh from Haryana, and almost 90,000 cases from Chandigarh. I was stunned to find that only 650 judicial officers were performing in those circumstances. How can you do justice with almost no tools to deliver?
I got 250 officers appointed. I introduced the innovative concept of mobile courts. I took the Punjab and Haryana High Court on wheels into Punhana (Mewat), Haryana. Mobile courts went to Hoshiarpur in Punjab. Justice should be delivered at the doorstep of the people.
