High Court bids farewell to two judges

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday bid adieu to two of its judges, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice V Kameswar Rao, who have been transferred to other high courts. Speaking at the farewell reference, Acting Chief Justice Manmohan said both the judges, who were elevated from the Bar in 2013, have set a benchmark in different laws during their tenure.

On Wednesday, the central government notified the transfer of Justices Sachdeva and Rao to the high courts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, respectively. The Supreme Court Collegium had on March 15 recommended their transfer after they made a request to be shifted to other high courts.

“High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka would be truly enriched with your presence. At the same time, at the Delhi High Court, we are bound to feel a void,” said Justice Manmohan. With their transfer, the strength of the high court has come down to 40 judges against the sanctioned strength of 60. The event was attended by all the judges of the high court, former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri, family members of Justices Sachdeva and Rao as well as lawyers.

Justices Sachdeva and Rao shared their experience as judges of the high court, saying all parts of the country are represented at its Bar as well as the Bench. “No other Bar association is comparable to this (high court) Bar... In the morning session, Justice Rao mentioned all the 29 states and union territories are represented in the Bar. I had added that probably all 29 states and UTs are represented amongst the judges over here,” said Justice Sachdeva.

Justice Sachdeva, who has been part of the high court’s information technology (IT) committee, also said the Delhi High Court is one of the premier high courts and is at the forefront of digitisation. “When lockdown happened and all the courts were closed, we were the only court in the world which was functional,” he said.