Justice JR Midha

His quotation during his farewell speech “In Court of Justice, both the parties know the
truth, it is the judge, who is on trial” has gone viral on social media.

● Justice Jagjivan Ram Midha of Delhi high court retired on 7th july 2021, after serving as
a judge for over 13 years. He has passed several landmark judgements, wrote many
books on legal issues.
● A virtual farewell function was arranged by Delhi high court Bar Association.

Early life:
● Born on 8th july 1959 in Shimla, Justice Midha was from a non legal background.
● Having lost his father at the age of 13 and having no source of income could not break
his spirit.
● He graduated from Hansraj college with B.SC Hons and completed his LLB from
Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1982.

Legal career:
● He started practicing in District Court from 1982.
● He also started teaching at Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law Delhi University from
1989 to 1992
● During his teaching career he organized a Lok Adalat on motor accident compensation
in campus Law centre in 1991.
● He joined the bar in 1982 and moved to the bench in 2008.
● Justice Midha has been practicing over 26 years from 1982 to 2008.
● He practiced before the Delhi High court, supreme court, including MRTP commission,
National consumer Disputes redressal commission etc.
● He was appointed as an additional judge of delhi high court on 11th april, 2008 and
permanent judge from 6th july 2011.
● Passed landmark judgements like maintenance in matrimonial law cases and motor
accident tribunals.
● He wrote books on motor accident claims compensation and amendments to the code of
civil procedure.

Vision:
● His vision is to revolutionize the legal education system in india and he wants to shift
extensive focus on practical training.
● In the words of justice Midha , ‘justice is truth in action’.
● In his farewell speech he said for more than 13 years I have stopped watching television
and couldn't read newspapers except the headlines. I have never slept completely for 13
years’’.
Judgement:
● Justice JR Midha has actively initiated judicial reforms to speed up the pavement of due
compensation to victims of road accidents.he has pulled this success to great extents.
The claim tribunal agreed procedure formulated at his initiative with the consent of all the
insurance companies and Delhi Police provides that the police shall investigate a
criminal case, collect all evidence of compensation and file a DAR with claims Tribunal
within 30 days with a copy to insurance company shall revert to same claimant within
next 30 days.
From april 2010 to july 2012 a total of 21830 claims were filed before motor accident
claim tribunals in Delhi and 10762 has been awarded claims.
Following a related case, Justice JR Midha observed that parents are dependent on
children at all stages of life and it will inevitably deny compensation to those who lost
their offspring in a road accident.

Justice Midha was a judge with passion, vision and compassion.

References :
1. The print (https://theprint.in/)
2. http://www.delhihighcourt.nic.in/formerjudges.asp#data0
3. https://indiaeducationdiary.in/justice-j-r-midha-joins-galgotias-university-to-transform-
legal-education-in-india/