Mumbai: Three judges from Singapore's Supreme Court, including its Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, were part of three different benches of the Bombay High Court on Friday. This is the first time Judges of another country have sat in a ceremonial bench in the Bombay high court.
Chief Justice Menon shared a Ceremonial Bench with Bombay HC's Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justices Girish Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla in the historic central courtroom. The bench briefly heard the petitions regarding the reservation granted to the Maratha community in Maharashtra.
Justice Ramesh Kannan of Singapore's apex court shared the bench with Justices Nitin Jamdar and MM Sathaye, while Justice Andre Francis Maniam shared the Ceremonial Bench with HC Justices KR Shriram and Jitendra Jain.
CJ Upadhyaya welcomed Chief Justice Menon before the hearing in Maratha reservation started. “I am very glad and happy to announce that amongst us today is the CJ of Singapore Supreme Court. He was here in Bombay in 2015. I welcome him once again,” CJ Upadhyaya said.
Welcoming the Singapore chief justice, Maharashtra State Advocate General Birendra Saraf informed him about the historic significance of the Central COurtroom where the bench was sitting. He said that the trial against the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak took place in the Central Courtroom, in which he was convicted.
“Chief Justice Menon shares ideas similar to our own Chief Justice of India (D Y Chandrachud) regarding collaboration of ideas between Singapore and India,” Saraf said.
Senior counsel Pradeep Sancheti, appearing for the petitioners opposing the Maratha reservation, gave a brief background of the case to Chief Justice Menon submitting how the reservation decision was arbitrary and illegal. The Ceremonial Bench heard the matter briefly. Before leaving, CJ Menon bowed and thanked everyone present in court.
