Hyderabad: In perhaps the first instance of legal matters being addressed till the last petition during the vacation time, vacation benches of the Telangana High Court proceeded till late Thursday night. Vacation benches of Justice Bolam Vijaysen Reddy and Justice Lakshminarayana Alishetti held court proceedings from 10.30 am on Thursday till early hours of Friday. Justice Vijaysen Reddy continued the hearing till 1.30 am on Friday and ensured completion of all the listed matters and urgent matters mentioned before the bench headed by him.
Justice AL Lalit Lakshminarayanan presided over the bench till midnight. More than 250 cases were heard by the two vacation courts individually and as part of the division bench. Members of the legal fraternity say this has set a new precedent.
Some practitioners said, “Such initiatives can help reduce delays in the legal process and increase public confidence in the judiciary, especially at a time of many criticisms regarding court holidays during the summer.”
However, he opined that it is also necessary to maintain a balance between addressing urgent matters and preventing unnecessary strain on the court system. Filing petitions in the form of a lunch motion during the holiday period without real urgency can potentially burden the bench and delay the resolution of more important cases.
Justice Vijaysen Reddy was succeeded by his father Justice B. It is interesting to see him following in the footsteps of Subhashan Reddy, especially in his approach of hearing cases diligently and following the list. As Chairman of the Human Rights Commission, Justice Subhashan Reddy had ordered the HRC staff to allow people suffering from suppression of their rights and livelihoods to contact them without any restriction of time and day. He had impressed with his commitment to listen to the grievances of victims as a High Court judge, HRC Chairman and Lokayukta.
