On the last day before breaking for the summer vacation, Justice Shahrukh J. Kathawalla of the Bombay High Court was hearing matters beyond 3 a.m.
On Friday, the HC witnessed lawyers, court staff and a judge sitting in court room number 20 way past midnight to complete his work on more than 130 matters.
Justice Kathawalla enrolled in the Maharashtra and Goa Bar in 1985, was sworn in as an additional judge at the HC in 2009 and was confirmed as a permanent Judge on July 15, 2011. His current assignment at the HC is to take up fresh suits and matters related to arbitration.
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Advocate Nishad Nadkarni, one of the lawyers waiting inside the courtroom past 3 a.m. said, “Justice Kathawalla is an extremely dedicated and hardworking judge. All his matters were for urgent hearings and were seeking ad-interim relief. He heard them all.”
K.P.P. Nair, Justice Kathawala’s former secretary, who has worked with him for seven years, said, “He comes in at 9.30 a.m. and sits till his entire board is heard. He puts up a list of 100 matters, sometimes even more.”