The Bombay Lawyers’ Association on Tuesday wrote a letter to the office of the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, seeking “urgent remedial measures” regarding the change of assignment of Justice Revati Mohite Dere, who was hearing the applications challenging the discharge of police officers accused in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case. According to the roster of judges’ assignments that came into effect on Monday, Justice Dere, who was earlier hearing criminal revision applications, was assigned to hear bail and anticipatory bail applications from Mumbai and Thane. Criminal revision applications have been assigned to Justice Nitin Sambre. The letter written by Bombay Lawyers’ Association president Ahmad Abdi states, “In the recent change in assignment Justice Revati Mohite Dere, who (was) hearing the revision application in the Sohrabuddin encounter case at the Bombay High Court, will not be hearing the matter anymore as the sitting list has been changed. This change in assignment is done when Justice Dere has already heard the matter at length on day to day basis keeping in view its urgency since the trial before special CBI court is going on. This is particularly intriguing considering how Justice Dere had consistently reprimanded CBI’s approach in the case.” Pointing out that 15 of the 38 accused in the case, including BJP president Amit Shah, have been discharged in the case and 34 of 42 witnesses examined in the trial have turned hostile, Abdi wrote, “In this background, change of assignment of Justice Dere is sending wrong signal to the public at large, undermining the faith of people in the institution of judiciary as such.” He added, “In the circumstances, we request your good self to initiate urgent remedial measure so that not only justice is done but it should appear to have been done.” “No doubt the chief justice is the master of the roster. But this power of the chief justice is to be executed in consonance with conventions and above all keeping in view the larger public interest,” Abdi wrote to acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani. Bombay Lawyers’ Association is the petitioner in the case before the Supreme Court seeking an inquiry into the death of Judge Brijgopal Loya in 2014, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter trial at the time. As per medical records, Loya died of a cardiac arrest. The new judges’ roster of the High Court lists the new assignments of 26 benches including division benches and single judges. “Every two and half to three months, there is a change of assignment. This is a procedure we have been following for decades,” Registrar General of the Bombay High Court Shrinivas Agrawal said. The roster also states, “Part-heard matters cease to be part-heard with change of assignment unless where a proposal for continuation of the matters is sent by the concerned Bench at the request of the parties and the same is approved by the honourable acting chief justice”.
