The Central government, on September 21, notified the appointment of Chief Justices to eight High Courts which included names of senior judges from the Bombay High Court. Justice Nitin Jamdar, the senior most judge of the Bombay HC, has been elevated as the Chief Justice (CJ) of Kerala High Court. Second senior most judge of the Bombay HC, Justice KR Shriram has been elevated as CJ of Madras HC.
Interestingly, the Centre’s notification came a day after the Supreme Court questioned the Centre on sitting on its recommendations, saying that the collegium was not a “search committee”.
Justices Jamdar and Shriram’s names were recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, on July 11.
JUSTICE JAMDAR
In his career spanning 12 years as a judge, Justice Jamdar has passed several orders that would have deep impact on the society and ecology.
In a significant judgment, to ensure proper and speedier rehabilitation of cured mental health patients, a bench headed by Justice Jamdar had passed a 25 directions to make Maharashtra Mental Health Authority fully functional and set up six additional halfway homes / rehabilitation centres in four months. During the hearings in the plea by psychologist Harish Shetty, the court had ensured rehabilitation of several patients who were declared fit for discharge from state mental health establishments but were languishing in there for various reasons.
Observing that it was imperative that the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg corridor consisting of 25 villages in southern Konkan be declared as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) without any further delay, a bench headed by Justice Jamdar in April directed the State to submit such a proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests within four months. The bench had also passed interim orders restraining tree cutting in the corridor shall continue until final notification is issued, after which it will be governed under provisions for the ESA.
Last month, the bench headed by Justice Jamdar directed the Maharashtra government to establish dedicated email addresses and social media handles for District Level Committees and Vigilance Committees under anti-manual scavenging law to enable citizens and non-governmental organisations to report instances of manual scavenging. This is to aid the Social Welfare Department in its statutory duty to ensure that manual scavenging does not take place. The order was passed while hearing a petition by Shramik Janata Sangh highlighting the plight of manual scavengers in the state, despite the claim by Maharashtra government that the practise has been eradicated.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Jamdar had ruled in July that post-poll alliance (post-poll Aghadi) formed by independent candidates in Municipal Councils will be considered as pre-poll alliance, and the provisions of the Maharashtra Local Authority Members' Disqualification Act, 1986 will be applicable for all purposes for all meetings as a member of such Aghadi till the term of the Council. The judgment aims to prevent “horse-trading” tactics and ensure stability in democratic institutions.
In 2022, a bench headed by Justice Jamdar commute death sentence of two sisters, Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit -- who were awarded the sentence in 2001 for kidnapping 13 children and killing nine of them between 1990 and October 1996 – to life imprisonment due to inordinate delay in execution of their sentence. The bench had however refused to release them forthwith, as prayed by them since they have already spent 25 years behind bars, observing that the “crime committed by them is heinous” and “the brutality with which the children were murdered is beyond words to condemn”.
Born in Solapur into a family of lawyers, Justice Jamdar is the third generation to pursue a career in the legal field. Having received education in different schools across Maharashtra, he obtained degrees in Commerce and Law from Sydenham Commerce College and Government Law College, Mumbai. He was appointed as a judge of the Bombay HC on January 23, 2012.
JUSTICE SHRIRAM
In his 11 years as a judge, Justice Shriram has headed the bench dealing with income tax and sales tax matters. A no nonsense judge, he has dealt with the authorities and litigants with a firm hand, who have been on the wrong side.
A bench headed by Justice Shriram, last November, had directed the Income Tax department to refund Rs1,128 crore paid by the telecom company in taxes for the assessment year 2016-2017, noting that the assessment order was time barred. The court had also expressed displeasure against the assessing officer for showing “laxity and lethargy” in not passing the final order within the mandated 30-day time and thus causing a huge loss to the exchequer and public.
Justice Shriram’s bench had dismissed an appeal filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and imposed costs of Rs10 lakh on it in a dispute over sale of railway wagons. The court was hearing an appeal filed by Iran challenging an ex-parte order of a single judge directing it to pay compensation worth over USD 35 lakh to KT Steel Industries LLP, an Indian company with which it has a dispute over sale of railway wagons.
Justice Shriram’s bench had sentenced two builders – Rajen Dhruv and Hiren Dhruv – of Orbit Ventures to surrender to serve their six months’ civil imprisonment for failing to honour their undertaking given to the court on March 23. When they failed to surrender and absconded, the court had directed the Police Commissioner to take immediate steps to trace them. The HC was hearing a plea filed by Axis Finance for recovery of Rs 163 crore from Orbit with 16.25 percent interest per year from January 1, 2021 till payment is done.
A bench headed by Justice Shriram directed the Sales Tax Authorities to refund over Rs10.69 crore to a company which was “adjusted” against a non-existent demand since the same was settled as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest, Penalty, or Late Fee Act, 2019 [Settlement Act].
Recently, a cost of Rs5 lakh was imposed on a petitioner for suppressing material by a bench headed by Justice Shriram observing that the litigant had come with “not just unclean hands but absolutely dirtied and muddied hands”. The plea was filed by M/s DGM Textiles, seeking quashing of the orders passed by the Customs.
Last year, Justice Shriram’s bench had dismissed a plea by Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SII) challenging the constitutional validity of an amendment to the Finance Act in 2015 which reduced subsidies and grants given by Central and State governments and including certain heads under “income” thereby making it taxable.
Born in Mumbai, Justice Shriram completed B.Com in Financial Accountancy and Management and LL.B. from Mumbai University, following which he pursued LL.M. (Maritime Law) from King's College, London. He dealt with commercial matters with specialisation in Shipping and International Trade Law, Company Law matters etc. He was appointed as a judge of the Bombay HC on June 21, 2013.
At present, the Bombay Hc is functioning with 66 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 94. With the two senior judges being elevated, the HC’s strength will be 64.
