Counsel feels court in ‘bad mood’, HC judge adjourns hearing
CHANDIGARH: It was not one-ofa-kind order by a Punjab and Haryana high court judge where he made a departure from the routine legal jargon to indulge in rib-tickling remarks.
Justice RN Raina is known for his unusual forays. In the February 4 order, the judge brought on record an unusual request by a counsel, advocate KS Sidhu, who wished for a case to be adjourned as he apprehended that the judge was in a “bad mood”.
The judge recorded: “The counsel, assuming that the mood of the court is bad this morning as four back-to-back cases were dismissed since, has prayed that time be granted to him to argue the case on some other day. I grant permission for an adjournment but not without saying the cases were not worth admission,” reads the order of justice Raina.
Born in Jalandhar in 1958, justice Raina comes from a distinguished Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Punjab. An alumnus of St John’s High School, Chandigarh, he did his law degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and also briefly taught at the department of laws. He remained associated with the Indian Law Reports (Punjab and Haryana) between 1987 and 2011, when he was elevated as a judge. From 2006 to 2011, he remained an editor of the Indian Law Reports (ILRs). ILRs are the most authentic and binding authority to be referred and relied upon by the courts published across India by all states.
In November 2017, when a lawyer sought adjournment stating that the respondent is getting married, the judge not only accepted his request but also wished the couple “happiness” in the married life.
In July 2018, while asking the Gurugram administration not to send notices of intended marriage of a inter-faith couple to their parents as it violated their privacy, he observed that state’s mindset should change with changing times .” Another order of December 2017 reads: “Mr
Toor will hold his horses not only of the Trust but also at his farm.” The case pertained to a dispute between a private firm and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. A lawyer was given more time to come prepared on the documents supplied by other side.
In 2018, seeing pitiable condition of the Sector 25 cremation ground in Chandigarh, the judge took suo motu note and issued directions to ramp up facilities. “Society is also known by how it treats its departed. State’s expenditure is on the living but not the dead in their last milestone and voyage,” the order read.