Justice JB Pardiwala : Bold Interventions During COVID, Over 1000 Reportable Judgments, Controversial Remarks On Reservation

Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala, the newly appointed judge of the Supreme Court, has delivered several noteworthy judgments as a judge of the Gujarat High Court.Justice Pardiwala stepped into the legal profession in 1989 as a fourth-generation lawyer. His great grandfather Navrojji Bhikhaji Pardiwala, grandfather and his father were lawyers, who predominately practiced in Valsad. His father Burjor Cawasji Pardiwala joined Bar at Valsad in 1955 and also remained as the Speaker of the 7th Gujarat Legislative Assembly for a period commencing from December 1989 to March, 1990.Justice Pardiwala himself started practice at Valsad in January, 1989, however, just one year later, he shifted to the Gujarat High Court in 1990 and started taking up matters in all branches of Law. He moved to the Bench in 2011 and further, in 2013, he was confirmed as a permanent Judge in the High Court.His great grandfather started his practice in the year 1894 at Valsad and after about 128 years, his great-grandson will take the oath as a Judge of the Supreme Court and is expected to go on to become the Chief Justice of India in 2028.Notable orders passed during COVID-19During the COVID-19 lockdown period, Justice Pardiwala led a division bench of the High Court which made several strong and bold interventions to ensure that the rights of the people, especially the most vulnerable sections like migrant workers, are not neglected by the authorities. Taking suo motu notice of a news paper report about migrant workers suffering hunger due to lockdown, the bench passed a slew of directions to the Government, after observing "It appears that people at large are hungry. People are without any food or shelter. It seems that it is the outcome of complete lockdown...The situation seems to be going out of control. Although the State Government is doing its best to combat the situation, yet we find that something is wrong somewhere. It appears that there is no proper coordination amongst various departments of the State Government. What is most essential as of now is a more humane approach or touch". Justice Pardiwala's bench did not mince words in highlighting the worrying situation in health services and passed a slew of directions to ensure that the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was working efficiently during the pandemic period.Expressing alarm over the high morbidity rate of COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, the bench said that its conditions were "pathetic" and were "as good a dungeon". The bench asked if the Gujarat Government was aware that the lack of adequate number of ventilators was the cause of high mortality of patients there."Is the State Government aware of the hard fact that the patients at the Civil Hospital are dying because of lack of adequate number of ventilators? How does the State Government propose to tackle this problem of ventilators?", Justice Pardiwala asked in the order.The Civil Hospital contributed to highest death in most of the week during the last eight weeks, the Court noted."It is very distressing to note that most of the patients in the Civil Hospital are dying after four days or more of the treatment. This indicates complete lack of critical care", the bench said.Later, the State Govt filed application to recall the scathing observations made by the HC against Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, stating that they will shake the confidence of common man in the hospital, and will demoralize the medical staff. Claiming that the steps have been taken to improve the conditions in the hospital, the Government urged the Court to "make few suitable observation so as to inspire confidence in the mind of a common man".Considering this application on a later date, the bench said that it was too early to give certificate as regards civil hospital. The bench also directed that an independent committee should inquire into the contents of an anonymous letter sent by a resident doctor of the Civil Hospital regarding the state of affairs there.The bench also said that it might do surprise visits at the hospital. The matters were later taken up by a bench comprising the then Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala.In June 2020, the bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala had emphasized that private medical institutions are also expected to "rise to the occasion" in these times of crisis and it had directed the State Government to keep a close watch on all the designated private hospitals to ensure that these institutions do not exploit the Covid patients."In times of crisis when people are dying, the Association should not think of even making profit of one rupee. The private hospitals have the adequate infrastructure and materials and financial resources required to fight this pandemic. All the hospitals whether private or public are considered moral agent and hence have a moral responsibility. The responsibility to act in certain ways falls upon those who may make up these hospitals,"...

Justice JB Pardiwala : Bold Interventions During COVID, Over 1000 Reportable Judgments, Controversial Remarks On Reservation

Sparsh Upadhyay

Justice Pardiwala has made strong remarks agianst marital rape and corruption.

Tags