Thursday, May 2, 2019

Former chief justice Subhashan Reddy no more

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai/Madurai:2.5.2019

Former chief justice of the Madras high court Justice Bollampalli Subhashan Reddy, who died in Hyderabad on Wednesday, is still remembered in the state as the architect of the Madurai bench. Close to his retirement in 2004, Justice Reddy was transferred to the Kerala high court as chief justice. After his superannuation in November 2004, he was chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission and later Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh. As human rights commission chairman, he is credited with foiling hundreds of child marriages. “He used to rush to different districts to stop such weddings,” recalls L Prasad of Guntur.

During his more than threeyear stint as head of the judiciary in Tamil Nadu, Justice Reddy handled with aplomb several Bar crises, biggest among them being the prolonged protests by a large section of lawyers against formation of the Madurai bench. Now, the bench serves the people of 13 districts. “Earlier, I remember how our relatives had to spend at least two nights on travel if they want to witness proceedings of their case in Chennai. Now even if a litigant is from the southernmost tip of the state, he can visit Madurai and return home by evening. We are ever grateful to Justice Reddy,” said B Palanivelrajan of Tirunelveli.

Much before the Bar Council of India came out with a code of conduct for lawyers, Justice Reddy had brought a 25-point code, which, however, triggered opposition from the Madras Bar. He even had to lock the gates of the entire court premises for a day to insulate it from disturbances from outside.

“Justice Reddy was a very active chief justice, but, unfortunately he had to battle a militant Bar leadership. He was, however, very popular among young lawyers, as he showered them with small discretionary reliefs,” said S Prabakaran, cochairman of Bar Council of India and president of Tamil Nadu Advocates Association (TNAA). “He forged an emotional bonding with members of the Bar and never missed an opportunity to interact with lawyers,” said RC Paul Kanagaraj, former president of Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA).

Madurai-based lawyer K Samidurai, who is secretary of Indian Association of Lawyers (TN Chapter), recalls how Justice Reddy had visited Madurai at least seven times and collected opinions from all stakeholders before taking up the cause of the Madurai bench. “He even chose the location for the Madurai bench and was actively involved in the design and construction of the building,” he said.



Subhashan Reddy

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