Highly laudable ambivalent gesture by the Addl Chief Delhi High Court Justice Gita Mittal

The judiciary and the fourth estate of our country are indeed remarkable. There may be difference of opinions in an open democracy about the faith of section of the people in these institutions or about their style of functioning but as far as my personal opinion is concerned I have full confidence and trust in both of them except few negligible instances pertaining to various controversies taking place from time to time.

There are hundreds of examples that whenever the nation’s executive have failed to exercise their duties as per the constitutional norms it’s the forth estate and the judiciary that have played their vital role in highlighting the injustices confronted by the people and the judiciary intervening at an appropritate time to deliever due justice to the aggrieved whether it’s the trivial and most vexed issue of the the controvertial Jessica Lal murder case, the despicable killing of Nitish Katara or the 2012 Nirbhaya episode.

In all these most sensitive, shocking and anguishing cases of national and international concern ot was primarily the media and judicial trial that provided justice to the bereaved families resulting in change of governments and influencing public mindset to the core. As a sequel to these pro people judicial interventions a novel example of the judicial humility and ambivalence have been noticed, felt and experienced on 21st of July in Delhi High Court when the additional chief justice Gita Mittal stopped her hear in one of the ongoing matter in her court when parents and their children entered the courtroom with a request to issue directives to Delhi government to admit their 10 to 15 year old children in the government schools of Delhi who had been denied addmissions in various classes thus playing with their future.

On seeing about 52 children aged between 12 to 15 years in their school uniforms entering her courtroom peacefully the sombre, affable and ambivalent additional chief justice of Delhi High Court not only stopped the hearing of the ongoing case in between but also directed her private secretary to immediately arange snacks ( samosas) and cold drinks for the entire lot of school children.

She then patiently heart the plight of the distressed children and their parents and after feeling convinced of their genuine plight took immediate congnisance of their plight and issued urgent directives to the Delhi government to admit all the four hundred students in their respective schools under intimation to the court at the earliest possible.

The court was of the opinion that no government has any right to play with the future of the students and as such it is bound to admit these students in their respective classes and schools forthwith. It may be recalled that the Right to Education, an act enacted by the central government makes it mandatory for all the state and the union government to deliever free and compulsory education at least up to twelth standard in all the government and government aided schols of the country and this ambivalent gesture of the additional chief justice and two other justices deserve fullest appreciation and kudos for comig to the rescue of 400 children ofDelh8 wh were denied addmission in government schools for one reason or the other.

It is apt to menton here that the Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal is the first woman in the field of law and justice to have been brstowed with the presigious ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’, one of the India’s highest civilian honour for women.

The coveted Nari Shakti award was presented to her for her exemplary contribution in the upliftment of women community of the country. The award was presented to her in a private ceremony by the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on International Women’s Day.

Justice Mittal, who took over as Acting Chief Justice after the retirement of Justice G Rohini in April last year, has introduced many welcome changes in the functioning of the Delhi High Court. She has been closely monitoring the dispensation of justice in Delhi and has also initiated a clean-up drive of the lower judiciary.
What’s your take friends?