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Sir
Norman Cranstoun Macleod succeeded Sir Basil Scott as the Chief
Justice in 1919. His Lordship came as barrister to
practise in the Bombay High Court about 1890. His Lordship held
various offices, judicial and administrative, serving as Chief Judge
of Small Causes Court, Taxing Master and Commissioner for taking
accounts, and as Official Assignee. In 1907, he was
appointed temporary judge to deal with Land Acquisition References.
His Lordship brought to bear upon his work quickness of grasp and
uncanny talent for discarding irrelevant matters and going straight to
the material points in the case. He had no doubt a powerful and
penetrating intellect, a very decisive mind, and an amazing passion for
hard work. All these qualities enabled him to dispose of a vast
amount of work; and during his long judicial career, he disposed of
more cases and wrote more judgments then any other judge.
His Lordship's appointment as Chief Justice synchronized with
the termination of the First World War, and there was an unprecedented
boom in business and litigation. The Original Side suits
multiplied tenfold rising to as many as 6,000 or 7,000 in the course of
a year, and the strength of the Bench was just seven as before.
In order to relieve the congestion, Sir Macleod released five judges to
take up Original Side work, keeping only one with himself to cope with
all the work on the Appellate Side. But it must be admitted that the
quickness and keenness of his mind enabled Macleod to grasp the
essential features of a case more rapidly then most judges; and he was
generally right in his decision. His Lordship
was liberal in his outlook; and threw open various offices in the High
Court to Indians, which in the past, had been reserved for
Europeans. No Judge had a wider or more varied experience of the
different departments of the High Court, or a more thorough knowledge
of commercial litigation. His Lordship shouldered a heavier
burden of work than most Judges with ability and success. His
Lordship had a contempt for the rules, forms and technicalities
of law and procedure, which frequently he carried to extremes.
But his powerful and practical mind enabled him even with these
slap-dash methods, to reach a sound conclusion.
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