SHIFTING PLAN
Historic room in high court gets a makeover
Shibu Thomas
The historic central court of the Bombay high court-and indisputably
one of the stunning courtrooms in the city-is getting a fresh coat of paint.
Plans are afoot to complete the renovation of the courtroom before the HC
opens after the summer vacation on June 4. More importantly, Chief Justice
Swatanter Kumar is to conduct hearings in this court-the very same one in
which Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was sentenced to imprisonment almost 100
years ago.
In recent times, the central courtroom has mostly been used for
conducting swearing in ceremonies of judges, lectures and for court hearings
by other judges. The Chief Justice has rarely used the courtroom for
hearings, which have always been held in the fully air-conditioned courtroom
no 52.
The central courtroom is no doubt the magnificent one-situated under the
central dome of the gothic HC building built in 1878. It still has most of
the original teak furniture and bears testimony to the bygone days when the
jury system was prevalent in India- with a jury box on the left side of the
judge’s dais.
The courtroom is also of immense historic significance with the most
famous trial being that of Tilak in 1908. Tilak’s words at the trial are
immortalised on a plaque outside the court room-“In spite of the verdict of
the jury I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule
the destiny of men and nations and it may be the will of providence that the
cause which I represent may prosper more by suffering than by my remaining
free.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice is planning to continue special drives to
clear the backlog of pending cases before the court. After a successful
attempt to reduce the long pending cases on the original side, sources said
that the focus would now be on the appellate side of the court. Before the
court closed for vacation, the Chief Justice had designated nine special
benches to hear pending cases on the original side. Over 3.4 lakh cases-both
civil and criminal-are pending before the high court.