Outgoing Chief Justice disposes of 56 cases on a single day

A record of sorts was created in Karnataka High Court when its outgoing Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph disposed off 56 cases in 70 minutes on the last day of his office.

Justice Cyriac Joseph, who was recently elevated as the Supreme Court judge, sat with nine different benches between 12.30 pm and 1.40 pm on July 2 to pronounce 56 judgements.

With the open court lasting 70 minutes, the judge appears to have taken just 1.25 minutes or 85 seconds to pronounce each judgement, assuming that no time had been lost between any two judgements.

A division bench headed by the Chief Justice had completed hearing in most of the cases disposed off by him on the last day of his office. Only the judgement was awaited. As July 2 was his last day in office, Justice Cyriac Joseph was forced to deliver judgement in all the cases the bench headed by him had heard.

Judicial officers also noted that the Chief Justice had to leave his seat eight times during the disposal of these cases to facilitate fellow judges to occupy their seats.

By clearing his lot, judicial officers observed that the outgoing Chief Justice has ensured that the courts and litigants did not have to go through the 56 cases all over once again.