The High Court of Uttaranchal, on Thursday, came into being with Justice A P Bharucha of Supreme Court formally inaugurating it at a grand ceremony at the 100-year old secretariat building in Nanital. Justice Ashok A Desai has been appointed as the first chief justice of Uttaranchal High Court. Justice Prakash Chandra Verma and Justice Mahesh Chandra Jain have been appointed judges of the High Court. According to a source, about 28,000 cases pertaining to Uttaranchal are pending in the high court. The court started its judicial functions immediately after the ceremonial function was over this afternoon. About 30 cases are fixed for hearing tomorrow. More than 40 advocates of the high court have already arrived. Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala, Chief Minister Nityanand Swamy, union law minister Arun Jaitley, Allahabad High Court chief justice Shyamal Kumar Sen, Uttaranchal High Court chief justice Ashok A Desai, UP law minister Radhey Shyam Gupta and former chief minister Narain Datt Tiwari were among the dignitaries present at the inaugural function.
Besides, a number of MLAs, MLCs and hundreds of memebers of bar associations of different districts of Uttaranchal and advocates of high court were present on the occasion. Speaking at the function, Jaitley hoped this 20th High Court of the country would expedite the process of justice and create a road map for the future judicial process in the country. Bureau Report