Full Court Reference to mourn ex-Chief Justice Gupta's demise

A Full Court Reference was held in the High Court today to mourn the demise of Justice V K Gupta, a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. Justice Gupta passed away after prolonged illness at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, on February 15.

Justice Gupta was appointed Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir at the age of 42 and was elevated as a Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court a year later. He was transferred to the Calcutta High Court in 1996 and later appointed as the first Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on December 4, 2000.

He assumed charge as the Chief Justice of the High Court Himachal Pradesh on March 8, 2003. After almost five years as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, he was transferred to the High Court of Uttarakhand.

Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia said that when Justice Gupta assumed the charge as Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, it and the state judiciary was in crying need of infrastructure. The High Court's new building was under-construction and Justice Gupta got it inaugurated within three months of his taking over as Chief Justice. He had expanded infrastructure for the entire judiciary.

Chief Justice Sandhawalia said that the credit for the expansion of infrastructure and the computerisation of the judiciary in the state goes to Justice Gupta. Judges of the High Court, Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Justice Sandeep Sharma, Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Justice Satyen Vaidya, Justice Sushil Kukreja, Justice Virender Singh, Justice Ranjan Sharma, Justice Bipin Chander Negi and Justice Rakesh Kainthla were present on the occasion. A two-minute silence was also observed as a mark of respect to the departed soul.