Justice V G Sabhahit Dies in his Court Chamber

 Senior Judge of the High Court of Karnataka Justice V G Sabhahit died in his chamber at the court, following a cardiac arrest on Monday.

Justice Sabhahit, who returned to his chamber after completing court proceedings in the evening complained of chest pain. His staff immediately called the doctors who arrived at his chamber and suggested that he be shifted to the hospital at once. However, the hospital authorities declared him brought dead.

Justice Sabhahit, who was suffering from heart problems, had suffered two heart attacks earlier. Justice Sabhahit was born on November 26, 1955. He enrolled as an advocate in 1979 and practised in the High Court before he joined the Karnataka Judicial Service as district judge on April 18, 1988.

He was promoted to the cadre of district judge (super time scale) on November 22, 1995.

Sabhahit was appointed as additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka in 2000, and was made a permanent Judge in 2001.

Several legal experts have expressed their condolences over the death of Justice Sabhahit. 

Incidentally, Sabhahit’s father, G N Sabhahit, also a judge of the High Court had died in his chamber at the court.

Justice Sabhahit’s order pertaining to the disqualification of Ninge Gowda under the Panchayat Raj Act is considered a benchmark for disqualification cases.

News Source - http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=124518

 He was third in seniority among judges in the High Court of Karnataka.

Justice Sabhahit was in the limelight when eleven BJP MLAs had rebelled against B S Yeddyurappa in 2010. The dissident MLAs had approached the High Court of Karnataka where a specially constituted Bench consisting of Chief Justice J.S. Kehar and Justice N. Kumar heard the pleas of the BJP MLAs against their disqualification. The Bench heard their pleas and gave a split verdict with Justice Kehar upholding their disqualification while Justice Kumar was in favour of setting aside their disqualification.

The matter was then heard by a third judge, Justice VG Sabhahit who upheld their disqualification. Justice V.G. Sabhahit held that it was clear that the contents of the letter given to the Governor by the MLAs would lead to the inevitable inference that the intention of the petitioners was to voluntary giving up membership of the BJP.

Source - http://barandbench.com/brief/2/1904/karnataka-hc-senior-judge-vg-sabhahit-dies-of-cardiac-arrest-in-his-court-chamber

http://karnatakajudiciary.kar.nic.in/bio_data/sitting_judges/vgsj.htm

While Justice V G Sabhahit died after a cardiac arrest in the Karnataka High Court on Monday, his father, a former HC judge, too died while performing duty.

Justice Sabhahit’s father, G N Sabhahit, was a judge during Justice P C Jain’s tenure as the Karnataka chief justice (1986 to 1989). He had a heart attack while conducting proceedings and died in his chamber in the High Court.

Last year, Justice V G Sabhahit’s gunman Pandu died of cardiac arrest while on duty.

Justice Sabhahit hailed from the coastal town of Idugunji.

Justice Sabhahit was honoured with a state funeral on Tuesday with several dignitaries, including legal luminaries, paying their respects to him.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/10/201112132011121323205276453ea26c8/HC-judge%E2%80%99s-father-too-died-in-court.html

Incidentally, the annual Late Justice G N Sabhahit Memorial Trust Lecture, was to be held at Karwar, in connection with which Justice V G Sabhahit had visited Karwar on the preceding Sunday.

Rich tributes were paid to the departed Soul, and native of Karwar district, by the Judges, DC, Advocates, and members of Karwar District Bar Association, at Karwar on Tuesday.