Hon'ble Mr. Justice JR Midha
Distinguished Professor
Justice J.R. Midha served as a Judge of Delhi High Court from 11th April, 2008 to 7th July, 2021. As a Judge, he presided over several jurisdictions including Judge-in-Charge of Original side of Delhi High Court. He also headed a Division Bench hearing Criminal Appeals involving life and death sentence references.
Justice Midha served as the Chairperson of Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). During his tenure, various new initiatives were successfully undertaken, namely: framing of Rules for Empanelment of Arbitrators; Empanelment of Arbitrators under the new Rules; stage wise disbursal of Fees to the Arbitrators; improved Website of DIAC with added features; Audio-visual tour of DIAC on the Website; release of first issue of DIAC Journal of Arbitration; and Guidelines for arbitration proceedings by video conference during pandemic.
Justice Midha also served as the Chairperson of Judicial Education and Training Programme Committee of High Court of Delhi and supervised the training of Judges at Delhi Judicial Academy. During his tenure, the Good Practices arising out of the judgments of Delhi High Court were uploaded on the Website of Delhi Judicial Academy. Justice Midha also served as a Member of the Sub-Committee of the Supreme Court on use of Artificial Intelligence in MACT cases.
Justice Midha served as a Member of the Advisory Board of Conservation of Foreign Exchange & Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) in 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021. He presided over the Tribunal under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 to examine the ban on the activities of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in 2012.
As a Judge, Justice Midha actively initiated judicial reforms in various jurisdictions namely, Arbitration, Motor Accident Claims, Execution Cases, Maintenance in Matrimonial Cases, Compensation to Victims of Crime, Prosecution for False Claims, Prosecution of Proclaimed Offenders, etc.
Before elevation, Justice Midha practiced Law for 26 years (1982 to 2008) before various Courts including Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and other High Courts. He also appeared as a Counsel before the Arbitrators/Arbitral Tribunals. He represented Govt. of NCT of Delhi as Standing Counsel (Civil) before the High Court of Delhi from May, 2006 until elevation as a Judge in April, 2008.
Justice Midha taught Law at Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Delhi University from 1989 to 1992 and taught various subjects including Code of Civil Procedure, Indian Evidence Act, Transfer of Property Act, Delhi Rent Control Act, Limitation Act, Arbitration Act, Motor Vehicles Act, Court Fees Act, Suit Valuation Act, Indian Registration Act, and Indian Stamp Act. He authored and compiled the synopsis and case material on the subjects of “Pleading and Conveyancing” and “Motor Accident Compensation” for Campus Law Centre. While teaching, he organized a Lok Adalat for Motor Accidents Cases in Campus Law Centre in 1991 in which the compensation was computed by Law students and the computation was submitted to the Lok Adalat Judges in advance to assist the claimants in obtaining fair compensation. Even after elevation to the Bench, he continued to visit various law schools to deliver guest lectures. He had been a resource person for training of Judges in National Judicial Academy as well as State Judicial Academies.
Justice Midha has written three books namely, Amendments to Code of Civil Procedure in 2002, Motor Accident Claims Referencer - First Edition in 2011 and Motor Accident Claims Referencer - Second Edition in 2012.