Justice Gautam Patel, among Bombay High Court's most famous judges, retires today

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Throughout his time as a judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Gautam Patel has delivered many important judgements, including the one on the amendment of IT Rules.

Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court is retiring today. (File photo)

Bombay High Court judge Gautam Patel, one of the judges who delivered the judgement on the amendment of IT Rules, is retiring today. He will be officially demitting office on April 25.

Justice Patel is one of the most popular judges of the Bombay High Court, known for his flair for the English language.

ALL ABOUT JUSTICE GAUTAM PATEL

Born in Mumbai on April 26, 1962, Justice Patel is a graduate of S. Xavier's College and studied law at Government Law College. He began practising in Mumbai in 1987, focusing on commercial, corporate, and civil litigations, as well as numerous environmental public interest litigations, including those related to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, protection of mangroves, town and country planning issues, Melghat National Park, the Mill Lands, protection of open spaces, etc.

In 1994, Justice Patel received the first international fellowship at the Pacific Energy and Resources Center, Sausalito, California, in environmental law. This included coursework at the University of Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and an internship with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.

He served as the Honorary Secretary of the Bombay Bar Association for two three-year terms from 1999 to 2005 and served on the Association's Standing Committee until his appointment as a High Court judge in 2013.

Between 2008 and 2011, he was a part-time lecturer in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, and Environmental Law at Government Law College. Justice Patel also wrote a weekly newspaper column in a city tabloid for about three years, apart from contributing various articles to esteemed magazines.

Justice Patel has previously served as a trustee of several public charitable trusts and foundations in the fields of education, the environment, and the hearing-impaired.

HIS TIME IN COURT

Justice Patel's bench recently took suo motu cognisance of reports about two kids drowning in a park in Mumbai. It pulled up Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over the incident and asked, "What is the price of a human life in this city?"

Justice Patel has also been very vocal about the pressure faced by judges and remarked that it was beyond cruel. Last year, he recused himself from hearing a case after a lawyer representing the litigant mentioned that the petitioner had sent him personal emails stating that the petition was not being heard.

In the judgement on the IT Rule amendment, Justice Patel ruled in favour of the petitioners, which included stand-up comic Kunal Kamra. The amendments to the IT rules empowered the government's Fact-Check Unit (FCU) to identify 'fake news' on social media platforms.

Justice Patel could not agree with Justice Neela Gokhale and a split verdict was delivered on the issue. The petitions are now being heard by a third judge, after which a judgement in the case will be pronounced.

A bench headed by Justice Patel is also set to deliver its judgement on the Syedna succession case, which was reserved for order a year ago. The passing of judgement will be done on April 23, just before Justice Patel retires.

JUSTICE PATEL SPEAKS ON BEING A JUDGE

Justice Gautam Patel addressed a gathering of lawyers at the Bombay High Court Advocates Association of Western India on Monday and spoke about his time as a judge.

"When you are asked to take a judgeship, please view the offer seriously. It is something to be seriously considered for two reasons. I know it has some variable elements to it; money is an issue. But barring that, people talk about being isolated or cut off; that is not actually true. We just have to be a little careful about it. You tend to override personal and family concerns, and that is not a good thing," said Justice Patel.

He emphasised that the offer was worth accepting for the reason that not everyone is offered the position.

"It is worth doing because not everybody gets asked. Merely being asked is a privilege. You don't become a judge because you are going to write great judgements or change the world or society. It is a job to be done as a matter of service, and it is a task, a demand that is made of few. But if you do it, no matter how broad your practice...it is unbelievable how much your vistas open up, once you are a judge and seeing all these matters," said the judge.

Justice Gautam also recounted his first day of work as a judge and shared anecdotes while stressing that it was always humour during court proceedings and cooperation from the Bar which helped in taking away the stress off of issues.

"It is very useful to find some moment or element of humour in a day's proceedings. It takes stress out of the issues more often than not. Sometimes the pressure is a lot. But the cooperation from the Bar has been astonishing. I don't think anything of the same would have been possible without the cooperation from the Bar," Justice Patel said.

Elaborating on the issue of a judge's life getting cut off or alienated from the fraternity, Justice Patel said that it was important for a lawyer-turned-judge to stay in touch with the members of the Bar to keep their relationships going.

"One of the things that I learnt is that you don't lose contact with the Bar. You keep your doors open, you keep those avenues and discussions open outside the courtroom, and you keep the relationships going. This becomes important," he said.

The lawyers remembered that Justice Patel's initial plans were actually to join the film fraternity, and he joined the legal profession only by accident.

Justice confirmed this by saying, "I sent my application to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. It went on strike, and I somehow wound up here accidentally," Justice Patel said as everyone laughed.

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chingkheinganbi mayengbam

Published On:

Apr 23, 2024