Overworked Tamil Nadu judge faints in court

Chennai, Oct 14: Apparently saddled with heavy workload, a woman family court judge here today swooned in the court on the Madras High Court campus. Additional Principal Judge V Charuhasini collapsed as she emerged out from the judge's dais after complaining of giddiness, court officials said.

After being administered first-aid by a doctor among the litigants and treated by the court medical team, the judge resumed her duties about an hour later. The judge has been handling more than 400 cases listed in all four family courts here as judges of two courts had been transferred and the other had gone on leave.

The issue of vacancies in family courts was brought up before Madras High Court by advocate George Williams. He mentioned before first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam that only one judge had been functioning in four family courts in the High Court campus. Two family court judges were transferred on September 14.

Even after the lapse of one month, they were not replaced. The third judge has taken leave. Hence, Charuhasini had been hearing cases listed in all the four courts. The judge has time only to adjourn all the matters, he said, seeking the intervention of the high court to fill the vacancies immediately.

PTI