BS People: Mohit Shah

Picture of propriety

At a time when greed and dishonesty make headlines every day, integrity and propriety received its 15 minutes of fame earlier this week. Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mohit Shah on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) arm Lavasa Corporation, which is engaged in the development of a hill town in Maharashtra, against the ministry of environment and forests.

The 57-year-old Shah, who became chief justice in June, said the matter cannot be placed before him as one of his relatives worked with a company advising HCC on a proposed public issue.

In his short, six-month tenure, Shah has already created a mark. He is widely seen as a no-nonsense judge, who wastes little time, while still giving those arguing their cases a patient hearing.

A senior lawyer, who did not want to be quoted, says: “Chief Justice Shah’s ability to understand a subject is simply marvellous. More importantly, he is a patient listener. What is great about him is that he dislikes giving adjournments, but finishes a case in a time-bound manner.”

Some of the cases heard by Shah include MCX Stock Exchange’s petition against market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on an application to launch equity and derivative products. Shah and Justice S C Dharmadhikari ordered Sebi to pass a final decision on the MCX-SX plea by September 30.

Further, a division bench comprising Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud dismissed Lalit Modi’s petition seeking dissolution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India disciplinary committee, which is inquiring into allegations of misappropriation of Indian Premier League funds by Modi, but refrained from expressing a “final opinion” on the matter.

The bench, while dismissing the petition, said that the “apprehension of bias” Modi claimed against Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin on the three-member committee was not real. However, they said Modi could raise the issue of bias while challenging the final decision of the committee and BCCI.

Shah started his practice in the Gujarat High Court in 1976 and made rapid strides in constitutional, civil and corporate law, including matters pertaining to patent laws. He served as standing counsel for several boards and corporations. Even during his busy practice, he did not ignore academic pursuits. After obtaining a master’s in law from Gujarat University, he was elevated as additional judge on the bench of the Gujarat High Court in 1995 and was appointed judge in the same court in 1997. Shah was elevated to chief justice of the Calcutta High Court in December 2009.