Concerned citizens write letter to CJ after bench change

Activists and advocates of the state have written a letter to the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court expressing their disappointment over reconstituting the bench hearing the suo motu plea and PILs on Covid issues in the state.

"In the context of the suo moto and matters (PILs and applications) related to the Gujarat Government's response to Covid-19 situation in the State, we would like to express our disappointment and serious concern regarding your decision to change the bench seized of the matter. While we fully recognise and accept your power to do so as the master of the roster, we feel that this decision would break the continuity of the hearings and the significant directions that the Hon'ble Court has been issuing to the government," the letter written by group of activists and advocates of Concerned Citizens of Gujarat.

Signed by 44 people, the letter goes on to request the chief justice "to reconsider your decision to alter the composition of the said bench of Justice Jamshed Pardiwala and Justice Ilesh Vora, and retain the same bench in the interest of continuity of the hearings and efficiency, till this matter is fully and finally disposed of. This would ensure an unbroken thread of hearings and passing of relevant directions. We appreciate the fact that even after your return after the break you were sitting as a single judge bench till now, thereby allowing the much needed continuity of the said bench; we humbly pray that you let the bench comprising the same judges - Justice Jamshed Pardiwala and Justice Ilesh Vora - continue hearing the said matter."

The concerned citizens

The letter ends with the names of the citizens that includes Advocate Shamsad Pathan, Advocate Anand Yagnik, Hozefa Ujjaini, Prof Ghanshyam Shah Hiren Gandhi, Prof Swati Joshi, Dr Saroop Dhruv, Waqar Kazi Mohammed, Sharif Malek, Gova Rathod Rohit Prajapati, Prof Neha Shah, Kabir Thakore, Maansi Shah, Shaukat Indauri, Rupa Chinai, Dev Desai, Jay Shery, Advocate Abhishek Khandelwalm Utpalkant Anis, Bhavesh Bariya, Dharam Hadvani, Chirag Tadvi, Maneksha Varghese, Himanshu Sharma, Nita Mahadeva, Mudita Vidrohi, Advocate Pratik Rupala, Vaseef Hussain, Prof Hemant Shah, Jahanara Rangrej, Ikram Beg Mirza, Prasad Chacko, Ashok Chatterjee, Prof Ankur Sarin, Prof Raghu Rangarajan, Prof Sarthak Bagchi, Bhavna Ramrakhiyani, Lakadawala M A, Azima Girach, Nirjhari Sinha, Advocate Sophia Khan and Rafi Malek.