Events & Personalities
Chief Justice Vazifdar
Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar (pictured), 60, was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 6, 
2016 by Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh. Vazifdar, who had been serving as Acting Chief Justice of that High Court since December 16, 2014, was recommended for elevation to the post by the Supreme Court Collegium (see "Vazifdar recommended,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, June 21, 2016). Present at the swearing in ceremony were judges and advocates of the High Court, Punjab cabinet minister Aadesh Pratap Karon, chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, advisor to the Chandigarh administrator, the Haryana advocate general and members of Vazifdar’s family.
When questioned by the media after taking the oath, the newly minted Chief Justice said that the decision to ask for a separate High Court for Haryana remains to be taken. "I am not the only one who has to decide about it,” he said, adding that he is awaiting the report from the High Court judges’ committee constituted for the purpose. Haryana’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was present, noted that the state government had taken up the matter with the central government, states a report on Parsi Khabar which encapsulated news of Vazifdar’s elevation on August 9.
Responding to a question on the pendency of cases and shortage of 41 judges in the High Court, Vazifdar admitted that judges had been under tremendous pressure, but "in the recent past there have been months when the disposal rate was higher than the institution rate.” When asked why retired judges cannot be appointed as ad hoc judges, the Chief Justice replied that he alone cannot take a decision on the issue; his priority would be to ensure justice for the common man.
Before he moved to Chandigarh, Vazifdar was a judge of the Bombay High Court since 2001.
2016 by Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh. Vazifdar, who had been serving as Acting Chief Justice of that High Court since December 16, 2014, was recommended for elevation to the post by the Supreme Court Collegium (see "Vazifdar recommended,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, June 21, 2016). Present at the swearing in ceremony were judges and advocates of the High Court, Punjab cabinet minister Aadesh Pratap Karon, chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana, advisor to the Chandigarh administrator, the Haryana advocate general and members of Vazifdar’s family.When questioned by the media after taking the oath, the newly minted Chief Justice said that the decision to ask for a separate High Court for Haryana remains to be taken. "I am not the only one who has to decide about it,” he said, adding that he is awaiting the report from the High Court judges’ committee constituted for the purpose. Haryana’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was present, noted that the state government had taken up the matter with the central government, states a report on Parsi Khabar which encapsulated news of Vazifdar’s elevation on August 9.
Responding to a question on the pendency of cases and shortage of 41 judges in the High Court, Vazifdar admitted that judges had been under tremendous pressure, but "in the recent past there have been months when the disposal rate was higher than the institution rate.” When asked why retired judges cannot be appointed as ad hoc judges, the Chief Justice replied that he alone cannot take a decision on the issue; his priority would be to ensure justice for the common man.
Before he moved to Chandigarh, Vazifdar was a judge of the Bombay High Court since 2001.
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