Karnataka chief justice Jagdish Singh Khehar addressed lawyers and high court staff before taking charge of the official proceedings in Bangalore on Monday.
A warm welcome was accorded to the new chief justice of the Karnataka high court, Jagdish Singh Khehar, on his first day at the court. After an introductory function held at court hall number one by the Bar Council, the court room continued to be packed, as many lawyers flocked to see the new chief justice in action.
Justice Khehar was administered the oath of office by governor HR Bhardwaj on Sunday.
President of the Bar Council, Jayakumar Patil, offered a brief introduction of the new chief justice. “For one or the other reason, the Bar Council of Karnataka has been in the news. There were incidents of frayed tempers, ruffled feathers. I own up to my own share of such incidents.”
Chief justice Khehar, who had earlier served as the chief justice of Uttarakhand, said, “I am happy to come to the Karnataka high court. There were seven judges working in the place where I worked previously, there are 40 judges here.” Adding that he already had a connection with the Karnataka high court, justice Khehar said, “I was a student of law for 12 years with justice Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi, former chief justice of the Karnataka high court.”
Justice Sodhi and his wife were present in the hall.
In a lighter vein, he said that the “wonderful Bar” in the state was also a divided one. He offered his own arbitration services, gratis, to settle all differences.
Talking of the problems of litigants, the chief justice said that administration processes ought to be improved, so that people felt less burdened as litigants. The ‘docket explosion’ in the state was an indication of the enormous faith people had in the judiciary, the chief justice said.
The chief justice also had words of praise for the mediation and conciliation centres in the state. He touched on the issue of delay in judicial proceedings and emphasised the need for timely disposal of cases. Justice Khehar also offered a word of encouragement to young advocates, saying that they should speak well and ought to be heard.
Later in the afternoon, the advocates’ association organised a welcome function for the chief justice. Justice Khehar said he had received letters wishing him success from the Dalai Lama and former chief justice of India MN Venkatachalaiah.
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