More family courts soon, on rented premises

The Bandra Family Courtrsquos recentlyappointed Principal Judge Dr Laxmi Rao urged her superior Chief Justice Mohit S Shah to arrange for more courtrooms and space for family court and mediation proceedings The Judges had gathered on Saturday to felicitate 111 couples on the verge of divorce who reconciled thanks to timely intervention by the court and its counsellors Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mohit Shah Justice Dr D Y Chandrachud and Principal Judge Laxmi Rao felicitated couples who had reconciled at the Bandra Family Court PicAbhinav Kocharekar Principal Judge Dr Rao said ldquoI have only spent three weeks here and I can already tell you the work done by our judges cannot be matched Presently we have seven judges and 14 marriage counsellors but we need thrice the number of courts and much more space We need at least 25 more judges It is not possible for us to devote more time to the problems of litigantsrdquo Rao told the audience ldquoI first climed the steps of this court as a litigant and then I did law I have come full circle I want this to be known as a reunion court and not a divorce courtrdquou00a0The Chief Justice readily agreed to her request when he stepped up to the dais saying ldquoIt is difficult in Mumbai since property prices are high But we have suggested to the State Government and they have accepted the idea of paying rent to set up more Family Courts So the Government has agreed to pay the rent requiredrdquo Judges draw on personal experience Also present at the felicitation was Justice Dr DY Chandrachud who drew on his personal experiences with family to elaborate on why the institution is so important ldquoMy wife has told me that in court I may be referred to as lsquoMy Lordrsquo or lsquoMy Lordshiprsquo but at home this is irrelevant We have Article 14 in our house Article 14 of the Indian Constitution deals with equality When I come home from court I like wearing shorts and a TShirt but when my motherinlaw visits my wife insists I wear kurtapyjamasrdquo Justice Chandrachud also discussed his first wifersquos death from breast cancer and his subsequent remarriage ldquoMy sister told me I could not stay alonerdquo he said Sporting a creamcoloured suit Justice Mohit Shah told the audience of reconciled couples ldquoI am wearing the same clothes as I do for weddings for your reconciliation Home tensions are the most difficult to handle When theyrsquore old people donrsquot say I wish Irsquod spent more time in office they always say lsquoI wish Irsquod spent more time with familyrsquo We donrsquot want a khap panchayat system where we force couples to reconcile In certain cases it is better to let them part ways gracefullyrdquo Happy couples reunite among the reunited couples were Amardeep and Harshal Sarwaiya both 32 Amardeep said ldquoWe used to have minor fights and there was no one to make us understand We are here today after a year of counselling Though we are both visually handicapped we are still togetherrdquo Also among the couples were Digambar and Pranali Shetye who had disagreements as Pranali continued working after marriage Pranali said ldquoI made up my mind to never have to go to a court But after coming here I realised that everyone from the peons to the judges and lawyers are there to help After being separated for two years I realised I wanted to reconcilerdquo Pranali eventually gave up her job and became a housewifeu00a0