“A just judge”

Shakespeare, in his immortal play The Merchant of Venice gives us glimpses of the attributes of a judge: "upright… learned… worthy… you know the law, your exposition hath been most sound.” These qualities can well be attributed to Justice Sarosh H. Kapadia.

As an advocate of the Bombay High Court for a number of years in the chambers of the late Firoze Damania, an authority in labor matters, Kapadia acquired a vast knowledge of commercial, revenue and labor matters as well as direct and indirect taxation.

On October 8, 1991 Kapadia was elevated as a judge of the Bombay High Court and quickly made a mark on the Bench with his quick grasp, his fearless judgments and an impartial approach to various judicial matters. He also acquired a high reputation for being a strict and scrupulously honest judge and one who believed in expeditious disposal of the vast number of pending cases in the Bombay High Court.

Kapadia attracted a lot of public attention when he presided over the Special Court relating to the Harshad Mehta scam in the early 1990s. My firm had a couple of matters before the Special Court and it was indeed a pleasure to see him deal with very complicated issues in a facile manner, particularly those involving accountancy. Kapadia delivered an epoch-making judgment in the matters pertaining to the assets of Fair Growth and Financial Services, which was Mehta’s firm. His humane orders ensured that even poor and small investors got their monies back. He also came into prominence for his judgment on the IXth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

Perusing his judgments one gets the clear impression that he has been a habitual burner of the proverbial midnight oil! As regards his personal qualities, Justice Kapadia is simple, humble and unassuming. What is very heartening is that he is a devoted family man and also deeply religious — a man of whom our community can be justly proud.

The great Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls, who, when interviewed on his 81st birthday was asked the question "whether it was not correct that he bent the law in order to do justice?” He replied, "Certainly not, I just develop it.” While Kapadia undoubtedly has the capacity to develop the law (previous sentence refers to developing the law in a derogatory sense!), one wonders whether, during his remaining term of about two-and-a-half years he will have adequate opportunities to do this. However, one thing is certain — he will always be known and remembered as a "just judge.”

Dadi Engineer

The author is a noted solicitor and former trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet.