MUMBAI: The backlog of cases has never bothered me, Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar had told a gathering of judges recently at the launch of the e-court project.

Not without reason. Since taking over as the top judge of the Bombay HC in April, the Chief Justice has in a record of sorts, disposed of 926 cases. The pace of disposal is significant as it was achieved in 59 working days which works out to an average disposal rate of 15 cases per day.

Consider this against the mounting backlog of cases, over 3.69 lakh before the high court and 40.53 lakh cases pending before the subordinate courts across Maharashtra. At the same meeting, the Chief Justice had reminded the judges to retain quality of orders. He said,"Do not get disposal obsessed, but get disposal oriented."

The judge is definitely leading the way. Of the 926 cases disposed, 556 were heard and final orders passed right at the admission stage. They also include about 52 cases that were filed before the Aurangabad bench of the HC, which he had presided over for three days in mid-June.

The judgments have been passed while the Chief Justice was sitting in a division bench with other judges, and include two full benches. The cases deal with a broad spectrum of cases - criminal writ petitions, public interest litigations, service matters, labour disputes and a large batch of land acquisition cases and arbitration cases.

Among the important judgments passed by benches headed by the Chief justice are the dismissal of the appeal challenging the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act by 7/11 blast accused and a landmark judgment that foreigners cannot claim the same rights as Indian citizens.

The Chief Justice has also been tough on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation authorities and the state government on the issue of pot-holed roads and waterlogging in the monsoon.