To condole the sad demise of B.S Salathia, Senior Advocate and former President, J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu, a full Court reference was held today in Chief Justice’s Court at Jammu wing of the High Court. B. S Salathia left for his heavenly abode at the age of 69 on June 27th, 2020 at PGI Chandigarh after a brief illness.On account of guidelines with regard to measures for containment of COVID-19 pandemic in the country issued by the Government of India and the Government of Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and in order to avoid gathering as well as to maintain social distancing, the reference was held through Virtual mode.Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul and Justice Puneet Gupta attended the reference in Jammu Wing of the High Court while as Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Rajnesh Osawal, Justice Sanjay Dhar and Justice Javed Iqbal Wani attended the reference through virtual mode.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice Gita Mittal said that Mr B.S Salathia was not only an accomplished lawyer, but a person with rare qualities and a wide public acclaim and had a unique style and led by example making efforts to raise the standards of the Bar exhibiting knowledge, wisdom, fairness and professional commitment. The Chief Justice also said that Sh. B. S. Salathia was a man with acknowledged strength, knowledge and leadership qualities and was widely respected and was able to handle difficult cases also with ease.The Chief Justice further added that the untimely demise of Shri Salathia is an irretrievable loss to the legal fraternity as a whole.
Chief Justice also said that Shri Salathia was blessed with ability to stand up for his convictions and was known for his constant guidance and help to young lawyers in the profession and large number of promising lawyers in the Jammu Bar owe their very existence in the Bar to the guidance and mentorship that they received from Salathia during their formative days in the profession. Chief Justice Gita Mittal while expressing grief, paid heartfelt tribute to the memory of. B. S. Salathia D.C Raina, Advocate General, and Abhinav Sharma, President Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu also addressed the Full Court reference and paid tribute to Advocate B.S Salathia.Advocate General while recalling the immense contribution of B.S Salathia in the development of law said that Salathia was a Criminal Law expert and had authored and co-authored a number of books on different subjects. Advocate General further added that Adv B.S Salathia was a popular figure in all regions of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh in general and in legal fraternity in particular and always remained instrumental in bringing a number of positive changes in the legal profession. Advocate General also said that Salathia was a Nationalist and used to be on forefront for advancing the cause of the Bar.Advocate Abhinav Sharma, during his address, said that B.S Salathia was a professional lawyer and was a great manager of time. He further said that Shri Salathia remained associated with a number of NGOs for larger interest of the society.Recalling Mr Salathia as a person having immense protocol qualities, Abhinav Sharma said that the level of acceptability of Mr Salathia had no parallel in the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh and during his three terms as Bar President, Mr Salathia always fought for the cause of the lawyer’s fraternity especially for the rights of the young lawyers. Vishal Sharma, Assistant Solicitor General Jammu was also present during the proceedings. A two minute silence was also observed as a mark of respect to the departed soul. Sh. Jawad Ahmed, Registrar General conducted the proceedings.