A judge who cares for the environment

Kingshuk Nag | TNN | Jul 30, 2016, 07.52 AM IST

In early 2015 Justice Dilip B Bhosale was brought to Hyderabad high court—that has jurisdiction over the twin states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh—in anticipation of the then chief justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta retiring. Justice Bhosale did become the chief justice but only an acting one: by that time the judiciary-central government row over mode of appointment of judges had begun leading to a prolonged impasse.

One of the fi rst things that Justice Bhosale did after becoming acting CJ was to concentrate on making case statuses made online. "He is a great one for making use of online technology to bring the courts closer to people and make it easy to approach by lawyers," said a legal correspondent of a Hyderabad daily. Many attributed this to his upbringing as a politician's son which gave him a ring side view how a politician had to constantly strive to meet the confl icting demands of various interests.

Justice Bhosale showed his love for the environment and green causes when he converted a letter from this writer on the proposed wanton destruction of thousands of trees in the eco-sensitive zone of a reserve forest in the centre of the city by the state government to make way for new fl yovers. Stating that he would never allow trees to be cut, Justice Bhosale appointed an amicus curae. "I do not expect the writer of this letter to come to court to argue so I am appointing an amicus curae," the judge said. The letter was written after a prolonged campaign by TOI in Hyderabad on this matter, including candle light marches, street plays and conferences.

The judge, a few months ago, also took up the issue of colouring of fruits by retailers to make them look attractive. Coming down on the practice heavily, he said that this was a health hazard he would just not allow.

Top Comment

.....and there is a judge who cares for Salman Khan also.Dilip

In the last few weeks Justice Bhosale was faced with strikes by judges of the district court and lawyers about the delay in bifurcating the high court with one for Telangana and one for Andhra Pradesh. Stating that he c ould do nothing because there was a previous ruling by the high court that effectively prevented this bifurcation for the time being, Justice Bhosale, however, agreed to set up a 5-member bench to review the earlier decision. But this is an un-fi nished agenda. Justice Bhosale had once told this writer: "I know how complicated these matters can become. I saw the creation of the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court and the acrimony around it. My father was the chief minister and informally was witness to the deliberations."

Though now Justice Bhosale is going to Allahabad, originally he was tipped to go to Bhopal as chief justice of Madhya Pradesh high court.