Judge who authored Marina makeover bids adieu

CHENNAI: Seniormost judge of the Madras high court, Justice Vineet Kothari, who authored several landmark verdicts and headed a bench that ensured the welcome makeover of Marina beach and restoration of the Broken Bridge, was given a farewell by the Madras Bar on Saturday.
Justice Kothari, who was first appointed judge in Rajasthan high court in 2005 and was transferred to Karnataka in 2016 and then to the Madras high court in November 2018, had two brief stints as acting chief justice of the chartered high court.Now, he has been transferred to the Gujarat high court.
Chennaiites will remember Justice Kothari for the active role he, along with Justice R Suresh Kumar, played in making the Chennai corporation regulate the pushcart vendors of the Marina beach, and the proposed removal of fish vendors on Loop Road off the Light House, and restoration of the Broken Bridge.
It was only after the intervention of the bench headed by Justice Kothari through a PIL, that the corporation took active steps to regulate vending in the beach by restricting their numbers to 900.
Justice Kothari also gave a new lease of life to the ‘Broken Bridge’ which once ran parallel to Santhome high road, connecting Foreshore Estate with Besant Nagar.
Though the corporation initially took a stand that only a pedestrian-cum-cyclist bridge can be constructed replacing the broken bridge, it later altered its stand in view of the suggestions made by the bench headed by Justice Kothari.