'Human story at heart of every matter Justice Rekha Palli bids adieu to Delhi HC

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Justice Rekha Palli, who served as a judge for over seven years, bid adieu to the Delhi High Court on Friday.
     Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, in her farewell reference, said the judge's contribution would always be remembered by all, including the "countless souls" whose lives she touched through her work.
     Justice Palli was part of the division bench which held marathon hearings for over 40 days during the second wave of the raging COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and passed a slew of directions in favour of augmentation of resources, including oxygen, for the citizens of Delhi.
     Sharing every case was "more than just a file", Justice Palli said despite the revolution in technology, no machine could ever fully comprehend that at the heart of every legal matter was a human story.
     The role of a judge was not to just apply the law but to understand its impact, she said.
     Prior to her elevation as a judge on May 15, 2017, Justice Palli, an expert senior counsel in armed forces laws, argued in favour of permanent commission to all women officers who were recruited before May 2006 in the Air Force and Army.
     The high court in 2010 held that not granting them permanent commission would amount to gender discrimination.
     "We have equality in the armed forces and all the lady pilots who would ride on the Rafales and Sukhois and MIGs and probably the F-35 and would shoot the daylights out of the enemy would have a vote of thanks for Justice Palli," said additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma.
     Justice Palli said representing members of the armed forces was never just about the law but also about ensuring they were treated with dignity.
     "For me, they were not just legal disputes. They were deeply personal battles for the individuals involved. Representing members of the armed forces was never just about law. It was about justice, fairness and ensuring that those who serve our country are treated with dignity," she said.
     The judge added, "Every case that came before me (as a judge) was more than just a file - it was someone's life, someone's career, someone's struggle for justice."
     Justice Palli asked young lawyers and future judges not to chase success but excellence aside from balancing career and family.
     "Give your best to whatever you do. Don't chase success, chase excellence and success will follow. More importantly, don't be afraid of change.. Never underestimate the power of balance as at the end of the day, both career and family shape who we become," she said.
     In September 2024, the judge's bench ruled that a member of a force did not cease to be on "active duty" if he was not on field dealing with mines or explosives.
     In another case, her bench opined the six-week time granted to women candidates, who were pregnant at the time of medical examination for appointment in Central Armed Police Forces, to achieve the requisite fitness was “extremely short” and asked the authorities to examine the provision for granting reasonable time.
     In May 2023, Justice Palli ruled that adultery was a ground for divorce and it was not in public interest to protect the "privacy" of a married man allegedly indulging in sexual relationships outside his wedlock.
     In February 2022, she ordered the appointment of an administrator to take over the Table Tennis Federation of India in view of its "sorry state of affairs".
     Earlier, Justice Palli allowed a woman to terminate her over 30-week pregnancy as the foetus was suffering from a rare chromosomal disorder.
     She was designated a senior advocate by the high court in April 2015, and obtained her law degree from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1986.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)