Srinagar, Feb 21: The High Court of J&K and Lakakh on Tuesday observed that “courts while endeavoring to deliver speedy justice, must never deny justice in ooverzealousnessto dispose cases’’.
The Court in its order quoted Benjamin Franklin, who has said: “Great haste makes great waste”.
A bench of Justice Rajesh Sekhri made the remarks while allowing an appeal filed against an order passed by Principal Judge Family Court here on 10 September last year whereby a suit filed by the appellant for want of jurisdiction was rejected.
Before the Family Court, the appellant in his plea had sought a decree of declaration that the divorce pronounced by him upon his wife on 22 April 2022 had attained finality after the expiry of three months period.
He had also sought declaration that the woman has no right or claim in the landed property measuring 21 marlas at Mouza Habak Khushki Srinagar as well as to the house situated at Loren Mandi, Poonch, Jammu.
The appellant had questioned the order on the ground that since parties to the suit are living at Hazratbal Srinagar, the marital dispute between them arose at Srinagar, divorce was also pronounced and communicated upon the woman and the property in question also falls within the territorial jurisdiction of the Family court, therefore, the order was illegal, arbitrary, perverse and perfunctory.
After hearing the parties, the High Court allowed the appeal by setting aside the order with the direction to the Family Court to entertain the suit filed by the appellant and proceed with the trial of the case in accordance with law.
“As Benjamin Franklin once remarked – “great haste makes great waste”, the courts while endeavoring to deliver speedy justice, must never deny justice in over zealousness to dispose cases,” the High Court said, adding, “We should not endeavour to hand out hasty decisions, “the hurrier I go, the behinder I get” – as remarked by Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.”