Gujarat HC advocate body alleges 'nepotism, favouritism' in hearing petitions online

The Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHCAA) on Friday(June 5) shot off a letter to chief justice Vikram Nath alleging "nepotism" and "favouritism" in registering the petition for hearing online. Following lockdown in March in wake of coronavirus outbreak, the high court is hearing only "urgent" cases that are being filed and heard online. The lawyer's body has demanded the opening of the court in view of the fact that the situation is not going to improve in the next six months due to a lack of vaccine.

The president of GHCAA, Yatin Oza, in the 12-page letter addressed to the chief justice, has claimed that a group of advocates told him that their petitions were not being circulated for weeks and how "matters of billionaires get circulated in no time." The letter claims that at least 100 advocates have approached Oza and other office-bearers of the association making "serious grievance and complaint" that their petitions have not been listed despite repeated attempts. The letter alleges that the registry of the high court is "falling prey to nepotism and favoritism." The high court registrar general didn't respond to call made by DH.

Oza has cited examples of a woman petitioner who filed a bail plea on behalf of her husband. The letter states that due to “a funny objection" raised by the registry that the sex of petitioner was not stated, her petition was not circulated for hearing for ten days. He has said that it is happening despite instructions of the chief justice “not to raise any objection other than vakalatnama and affidavit.” Oza has claimed that he has over 100 similar examples.

Oza has also cited a recent case filed by a well-known businessman against a mutual fund house to say that how promptly the case was dealt with which, according to Oza, has caused “depression and frustration” among the lawyers. The letter mentions the name of the businessman whose case was filed on May 29 and how quickly “he walked away with an order on June 3" considering May 30 and May 31 being holidays. Oza has said that there are numerous petitions which haven’t seen the “light of the day” despite being filed weeks back.

"Juniors (advocate) and non-VIP client are making desperate efforts to get the matters registered by sending personal messages to the Deputy Registrar, nothing has been done in their matters. Nobody attends their phone calls. Nobody attends the helpline numbers and bar is now on the verge of frustration and depression," the letter states, while demanding to open the courts for physical hearing. It adds further that since a vaccine for the coronavirus is not going to be available anytime soon, "Juniors will breakdown, will have no place to go and like to commit suicide if the situation continues as the present."

Meanwhile, Gujarat reported a record 510 positive cases on Friday, the highest number till date, taking the total cases to 19,119 in the state while the death toll rose to 1190 with 35 more patients passing way in last 24 hours.