Homosexuality, judges assets hog limelight in Delhi HC in 2009

Legalising of gay sex in a path-breaking judgement and the legal wrangle over declaration of assets by judges of higher judiciary dominated proceedings in the Delhi High Court in 2009.
       
While the judgement on declaration of assets was against the consistent stand of chief justice of India KG Balakrishanan, the verdict in the homosexuality issue quashed the century-and-half-year-old penal provision under which it was made a criminal offence.

Expanding the horizons of right to life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender sex and putting them at par with other "normal" people, the high court held that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is unconstitutional and violative of fundamental rights.

The verdict, a culmination of an eight-year-long legal battle by gay rights activists, held that the penal provision for gay sex between consenting adults denies a person's dignity and criminalises one's core identity solely on account of sexualities.

The year gone by also witnessed the apex court finding itself in an embarrassing situation when the high court refused to accept its plea and the consistent stand of Justice Balakrishanan that the CJI's office did not come within the ambit of Right to Information Act.

In a landmark judgement, the Court held that the CJI is a public authority and information held by him on assets of his fellow judges should be made public.

Romesh Sharma, who was undergoing life imprisonment in fashion designer and his girlfriend Kunjum Budhiraja murder case, was also acquitted by the court.

The infamous decade-old BMW hit-and-run case also came to an end with the court reducing the quantum of sentence to Sanjeev Nanda, whose car mowed down six persons, from five to two years and the verdict was not challenged in the Supreme Court.

The court, however, refused to take a lenient approach towards policemen involved in fake encounter in Connaught Place shooting case and upheld the conviction and life sentence of 10 policemen, including dismissed Assistant Commissioner of Police SS Rathi, for the killing of two Haryana-based businessmen due to mistaken identity in 1997.
       
The year also saw the high court exploring new way and mechanism for quick and timely delivery of justice. It set up a modern arbitration centre on the lines of world-acclaimed reconciliation units at Singapore and London for quick justice delivery in corporate litigations.

The court proceedings, which costs more than Rs 6,000 per minute, has turned paperless with setting up of e-courts.