Bombay High Court

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1862 - 2012

A Journey of 150 Years through some Memorable Judgments Part 1

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PREFACE
A tiny kernel of an idea planted by Justice Mridula Bhatkar took root, and has resulted in a humble effort to present before you a compendium of the crux of some of the judgments of the Judges who have served the Bombay High Court since its inception in 1862.1 The initial idea was to document one judgment of the First Court from each year which was modified to include a judgment of the Bombay High Court of each year. I soon realized that it was too expansive an idea to merit a single judgment a year. I could collect and collate, as many as ten judgments which would qualify to show the development of the law we desired to portray. Having found too vast a number of such judgments, I had to settle at a more reasonable figure of about five judgments each year to showcase the progress this Court has made from its illustrious beginnings. Our Chief Justice Mohit Shah and our Justice Chandrachud wholeheartedly supported the idea to complement the Book published on this the sesquicentennial of our Court.

As the number of Judges grew, fewer judgments of each Judge would be selected as illustrations. These judgments are not the only path-finding groundbreaking ones; they are also ones with simplicity and legal elegance. The number of judgments we settled upon just would not permit all deserving judgments to be compiled; only a few have been picked from each year as the first in a series of such compilation. The selection is largely subjective, most of which are selected by young minds reflecting the choice of today and have been largely accepted, with some additions and editing. The selection evinces the fountain of talent that awaits the future.

This enumeration is a joint effort, involving much labour and thought, from Judges and Lawyers, young and old, law