Madras High Court Advocates Association condemns CAT judicial member for asking a lawyer to “get out”

MHAA condemns Lata Baswaraj Patne, CAT judicial member, for asking senior Bar member to "get out" during case hearing. Resolution passed to send representation to CAT chairman and Centre to transfer Patne out of Chennai bench. PIL filed in HC alleging 150 cases not issued order copies. Patne's indifference and lack of judicial temper revealed.

The Madras High Court Advocates’ Association (MHAA) passed a resolution on September 26 condemning Lata Baswaraj Patne, Judicial Member and Head of the Department of Chennai bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), for having asked a senior member of the Bar R. Sankarasubbu to “get out” during the hearing of a case.

The resolution stated that the conduct of the judicial member was deplorable. Further observing that she had developed a deep seated prejudice and bias against Chennai lawyers ever since a case was filed in the High Court regarding delay in issuing order copies, another resolution said, her conduct does not inspire confidence in her impartiality.

The MHAA also resolved to send a representation to the chariman of CAT in New Delhi as well as the Centre requesting them to transfer Ms. Patne out of the Chennai bench immediately. The resolutions were signed by 230 lawyers after holding a general body meeting under the chairmanship of L. Chandrakumar who was also president of Service Bar Association.

Mr. Chandrakumar had recently filed a public interest litigation petition in the High Court complaining that order copies in about 150 cases were yet to be issued by the Chennai bench of CAT since an administrative member had retired from service, without signing them, after the pronouncement of the orders in open court by him as well as the judicial member between January and April this year.

Senior Counsel R. Vaigai represented the PIL petitioner before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu who had on September 7 asked Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan to verify from the CAT Registry with respect to the manner in which the orders were pronounced.

Ever since the PIL was filed, Ms. Patne had begun to act indifferently towards the Bar members. On September 22, when Mr. Sankarasubbu urged her to list his case before some other bench, she asked him to “get out,” the MHAA complained and said, such conduct revealed total lack of judicial temper.