‘Judges undergo mental pressure until verdict delivered’

Hyderabad: A judge’s mind is always filled with pros and cons of a case even when he or she is off the Bench or with family members, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli said on Friday.

Speaking at the Full Bench farewell accorded to her on her elevation as Supreme Court judge, Justice Kohli said the real work of a judge starts after leaving court and retire to the chambers as that is the time when they go through the reserved cases, the citations and sift through all the material to try and arrive at a just decision. “Wearing the mantle of a Judge and deciding complicated matters is not a mean task. There is always a running conflict in the mind about the right and the wrong of a case. This battle continues day in and day out.

One eats, breathes and sleeps carrying the case in the heart till the judgment is finally pronounced. Even while remaining physically present with the family, the mind is always ticking, weighing the pros and cons of a case one is engaged with,” she said.

Noting that most holidays of judges are dedicated to dictating longish judgments, Justice Kohli said she would entreat the public not to count the holidays in the court calendar and assume that they are spent relaxing with family on holidaying.

“On most of those days, we are on our tables all day long working on judgments,” she further said. She and her bench partners Justice Abhishek Reddy and Justice Vijaysen Reddy have disposed of 1,731 cases, out of which about 200 cases were long pending Family Court Appeals that have been satisfactorily closed on a compromise. She thanked all the judges of the court, registrars, employees and others for their cooperation. Meanwhile, Justice MS Ramachandra Rao has been appointed as acting Chief Justice of Telangana High Court as the incumbent CJ Kohli has been elevated as Supreme Court Judge.