After some years I visited Srinagar last week for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Going down memory lane I recalled my appearances in the High Court, particularly the case where I was engaged by the state to defend its anti-defection law, the first of its kind in India. The Chief Justice and Justice Mir found no constitutional infirmity in the law. Justice A S Anand and Justice Kotwal dissented. The legislation was upheld thanks to a peculiar rule of the High Court which provides that in case of an evenly split judgment, the opinion of the Chief Justice prevails.

The High Court, under the dynamic leadership of its present Chief Justice B A Khan, has made remarkable strides in reducing arrears by 20 per cent in the last year. Its goal is disposal of cases pending for more than five years in the High Court and 10 years in the district courts by the end of the year, and to achieve zero pendency by 2008.

Visit to the High Court museum was an exhilarating experience. There were photographs of the sitting of our Supreme Court in Srinagar in 1954. There were also photographs of legal luminaries like Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Zaffarula Khan and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who had appeared in the High Court before Independence. The Royal Code of Conduct for the first Qazi of Kashmir who was appointed in 1586 AD gave directions to the Qazi, one of which was not to attend entertainments given by anybody and everybody. At present this precept is generally honoured more in breach than observance.

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