On Thursday, a bench of the Bombay High Court led by Justice SS Shinde heard over 190 cases, lingering past court hours till 8 p.m. due to a heavy caseload. Out of the 206 cases on the list, the bench heard over 190, including criminal writ petitions, parole, and furlough applications. Judges at the Bombay High Court work from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on a regular basis.
The Bombay High Court is no stranger to judges sitting late to hear cases, Justice SJ Kathawalla, who just resigned, was well-known for staying late to complete his board’s hearings.
The Supreme Court collegium has recommended Justice Shinde, the senior judge on the bench and the third most senior judge after the Chief Justice, for elevation to the position of Chief Justice.
The name of 61-year-old Justice Shinde has been proposed for Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, as a High Court judge, he has fewer than two months left on the job. Due to the growing number of vacancies in the High Court, judges have been working extra hours to hear as many cases as possible each day.
Following the High Court reopened after the summer break, some benches in the High Court have been sitting past court hours to finish their boards. Justice SV Gangapurwala led division benches, and Justice PD Naik and Justice Bharati Dangre led single-judge benches are some of them.
In the recent past, Justice Shinde presided over a number of high-profile cases, including the abetment to suicide case against Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, and cases against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and actress Kangana Ranaut.