Bar felicitates Joseph on his elevation to Apex Court

After more than four years as the chief justice of the high court of Uttarakhand, KM Joseph has been elevated to the Supreme Court. He is likely to take oath of office as a Supreme Court judge on Tuesday. The news of Joseph’s elevation to the Apex court reached the office of the high court registrar general’s office on Fridayafternoon. At that time, the chief justice along with justice Sharad Kumar Sharma was hearing a case. Later a team of doctors headed by the chief medical officer Dr Bharti Rana arrived to conduct a medical examination of the chief justice. According to sources, the official documentation regarding his elevation to the Supreme Court is expected to arrive here by Saturday. Joseph was made the chief justice of Uttarakhand high court on July 21, 2014. During his tenure here, he is credited with taking various important decisions. One of his major decisions was to cancel the notification in March 2016 which had replaced the Congress State Government led by then Chief Minister Harish Rawat with imposition of President’s rule. The observations made by him while hearing that case had also elicited national focus.

Later on Friday evening, Joseph stated that Uttarakhand is a second home for him and that while discharging his duties in Delhi, he would also take cognisnace of the interests of Uttarakhand. He was speaking at a function organised by the high court bar association to felicitate him after the Central Government cleared the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium to elevate him to the Supreme Court.

The decision of the Government was welcomed by advocates in the high court here. They held a programme in the evening to felicitate Joseph. Expressing his views on the occasion, the chief justice praised Uttarakhand and its people. He advised advocates to always go to the court with full preparation. There must be coordination between the bar and the bench for a better justice system. Appreciating the high court bar association office bearers and advocates, he said that he had received their full cooperation during his tenure in Nainital.

Speaking on the occasion, high court justice VK Bisht said that as the chief justice, Joseph had been studying every case deeply. High court advocates should also learn from him.

The high court bar association head Lalit Belwal said that Joseph being elevated to the top court was a matter of happiness in the history of the Uttarakhand high court from where other judges too had been elevated to the Supreme Court. The bar’s registrar general Narendra Datt, secretary Narendra Bali and other office bearers were also among those present on the occasion.