The Judge who took the road less travelled retires

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

Justice Rajiv Narain Raina, who went beyond the traditionally accepted four corners of law for delivering justice, today retired after spending about nine years as a Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge.

Landmark judgments

Landmark judgments of Justice Rajiv Narain Raina include grant of Rs62 lakh compensation and medical expenses in a minor’s amputation case. It was a landmark judgment in the exercise of writ jurisdiction.

Justice Raina is known for his beyond-the-law-book thinking. Whether it was examining English speaking skills of a candidate for a PRO’s post in the courtroom, or asking a state counsel to come out with a “draft order” to save court time, Justice Raina could think of things no Judge had thought before.

Justice Raina decided to put a jail superintendent to the test after assigning him homework. He was asked to go “through a judgment” on parole and tell “what he thinks” of the verdict and his role.

Justice Raina was always more candid than candied in his endeavour to upgrade the justice delivery mechanism. He found fault with the High Court’s own staff selection procedure and the extracts of its judgments used for giving dictation.

In one of his people-oriented judgments, Justice Raina held that maintenance tribunal was not an eviction tribunal, opening debate as to whether an eviction order could be passed by an eviction tribunal under the Senior Citizens Act.

A decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage of a Hindu couple settled in a foreign country was held to be not valid in India. Writing for a Full Bench, Justice Raina held as illegal and unjustified the condition of granting an additional mark for each year of unemployment. Talking about impossibility of bringing about reformation, Justice Raina wrote: “Let us no longer talk of honesty and character and parade it like models walking the ramp…. We are as bad as each other and let us not wear character and honesty like a badge of honour since it goes without saying if we are not”.

Belonging to an illustrious family of Kashmiri Pandits settled in Jalandhar since mid-19th century, Justice Raina was born on July 5, 1958. A St John’s High School alumnus, Justice Raina excelled in gymnastics and theatre before doing his BA from Government College for Men and law degree from the Department of Laws, Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was elevated as an Additional Judge on September 30, 2011, and as Permanent Judge on January 24, 2014.

His other landmark judgments include grant of Rs62 lakh compensation and medical expenses in a minor’s amputation case. It was a landmark judgment in the exercise of writ jurisdiction.

Justice Raina was involved in detailed examination of the history of civil services in the region. In another case, it was held that an Assistant Commandant could not exercise the power of Chief Judicial Magistrate and a constable.