After heading Bombay HC for more than a year, Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya to demit office today

Justice Upadhyaya, who worked as an Allahabad High Court judge for nearly 12 years, took charge of the over 150-year-old Bombay High Court on July 29, 2023. He initiated a few suo motu PILs, including those on the issues of deaths of patients in government hospitals, deteriorating air quality in Mumbai and surrounding areas, and garbage dumped in the sea containing microplastics endangering marine life and humans, and issued various directions.

On January 9, a bench led by Chief Justice Upadhyaya was hearing a suo motu PIL on “alarming” pollution in the city based on news reports, including The Indian Express’s ‘Death by Breath’ series. The bench directed the state government to form an expert panel to study the feasibility of phasing out diesel- and petrol-based vehicles from Mumbai as a “drastic” step against the “extreme” air pollution. In 2023, he placed a time limit on bursting firecrackers for Diwali.

Last month, in a relief to the state government, a Chief Justice Upadhyaya-led bench dismissed a plea challenging the formal award and work order for the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in favour of Adani Properties Pvt Ltd.

In a setback to the Maharashtra government in October 2024, Chief Justice Upadhyaya ordered authorities to maintain a status quo related to the 15-hectare land in Kanjurmarg transferred to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for construction of the Metro 6 depot.

On the same day, he stayed the implementation of guidelines from 2023 that enabled special permission to redevelopment project buildings up to 58 metres tall on Marine Drive precinct in South Mumbai.

It was during his tenure that the foundation for the Bombay High Court’s new building complex in Bandra (East) was laid down in September last year by the then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. Earlier, Chief Justice Upadhyaya had said that the heritage and archaeological value of the current high court building should be maintained and preserved.

In August last year, Chief Justice Upadhyaya directed civic bodies in Maharashtra to “clearly intimate” Ganeshotsav mandals to follow norms of not installing Plaster of Paris idols.

In July last year, he set aside the state’s decision that exempted private schools within a 1 km radius of government or aided schools from following RTE quota admissions.

In a major relief to the state government in May last year, a Chief Justice Upadhyaya-led bench dismissed pleas challenging the renaming of  Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities and districts as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively.

In August 2023, Justice Upadhyaya, expressing concern over the deaths of pedestrians and bikers falling in manholes, had ordered spot surveys to inspect whether manholes were covered in the entire city.

With his transfer, the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the law providing Maratha reservation are likely to be heard afresh, further delaying their disposal.

The Lucknow connection

Addressing his farewell function organised by the Bombay Bar Association (BBA) on Thursday, Chief Justice Upadhyaya said that his time at the Bombay High Court “enriched” him even though he came from a “very different culture”, not only as a judicial institution but also as a “different society”.

Lawyers arguing before Chief Justice Upadhyaya would often witness references to Lucknow from where he completed his law course in 1991 and practised as a lawyer later.

In one such courtroom exchange, Chief Justice Upadhyaya queried which among the two PILs would be the leading plea to be argued first and the petitioners’ lawyers left it to the judges. Chief Justice Upadhyaya drew a parallel to a movie scene. “I come from Lucknow, a city known for tehzeeb (manners). There were two Lucknowites boarding a train to Mumbai telling each other, “Pehle aap, pehle aap.. aur usi mein train nikal jaati hai…,” he said, referring to how the train left the station even as two people requested the other to take the seat. The scene belonged to Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi, which was based on Munshi Premchand’s story, leading the lawyers in court to burst into laughter.