Bela M Trivedi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Bela M Trivedi

• Bela M Trivedi is an Indian lawyer who was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 31 August 2021.

• While growing up, she pursued her schooling at various schools as her father held a transferable judicial job.

• Bela M Trivedi enrolled as an advocate on 18 September 1983. As a lawyer, she practised civil and constitutional law until 10 July 1995 when she was appointed as a judge of the City Civil and Sessions Court, Ahmedabad. Surprisingly, her father was also serving as a judge of the City Civil and Sessions Court when she was appointed. The Limca Book of Indian Records recorded the event in their 1996 edition, stating, “Father-daughter judges in the same court.”

• She got divorce when she was City civil judge

• From 2003 to 2006, she served as a law secretary to the Gujarat Government.

• On 17 February 2011, she was elevated to the bench of the High Court of Gujarat as an additional judge.

• On 27 June 2011, she was transferred to the Rajasthan High Court, where she served as an additional judge. On 6 February 2013, she was designated as a permanent judge of the Rajasthan High Court.

• On 9 February 2016, she resumed the designation of Judge High Court of Gujarat.

• In June 2020, the Gujarat HC judge Bela M Trivedi received anonymous calls and messages referring to a criminal case pertaining to a man seeking anticipatory bail as he faced the alleged charges of instigating a mob to act against the police. The court asserted,
  

  Since, nobody can directly or indirectly try to approach the Court or to influence the Court, in a way try to pollute the stream of justice, it is necessary to obtain the details of the call made from the number.”

• On 10 December 2020, a division bench led by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Bela M Trivedi directed Bharuch district authorities to accelerate the conversion process of a 32-year-old Hindu man, who wished to convert to Islam in the Jigneshkumar Manubhai Patel vs District Collector, Bharuch case.

• On 15 January 2021, citing that animals had the capability of comprehending the physical and mental pain, a division bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi denied bail to a man accused of various offences punishable under The Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act.

• On 23 July 2021, a division bench led by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Bela M Trivedi observed that Jagrut Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union and Ahmedabad Railway Station Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union could not claim financial assistance from the state government under the Atma Nirbhar Gujarat Scheme as a matter of right. The PIL was filed in the Gujarat high court by the city’s autorickshaw drivers, whose livelihood had been adversely affected by the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

• On 25 July 2021, in The Surat Parsi Panchayat Board v. Union Of India. case, a division bench led by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Bela M Trivedi held that the protocol allowing the disposal of dead bodies of COVID-19 patients did not violate the fundamental right to religion of Dokhmenashini practising Parsees. The customary practice of Dokhmenashini directs the Parsi community to opt for a system of sky burials that relied on the heat of the sun and scavenger birds to dispose of bodies. The novel coronavirus guidelines prescribed only cremation or burial for the disposal of bodies of persons who succumbed to COVID-19.

• On 31 August 2021, Justice Bela M Trivedi was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India. For the first time in Indian Supreme Court’s history, nine judges took oath in one day. The names of those judges were Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Justice B. V. Nagarathna, Justice C T Ravikumar, Justice M M Sundresh, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice Bela M Trivedi, and Justice P S Narasimha. With three women judges swearing in, the Supreme Court of India secured four sitting women judges, beating the previous high of three sitting women judges. Justice Bela M Trivedi became the first woman judge from the Gujarat High Court to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India, where she will serve the term till June 10, 2025.

  

• In her farewell speech at the High Court of Gujarat, she revealed that she pursued law without any serious thought of practising it.

• She is also a member of the General Council for Gujarat National Law University. Additionally, she has served as the Registrar (Vigilance) at the High Court of Gujarat, Law Secretary and Resident Legal Advisor for the Government of Gujarat, and Special Judge – Serial Bomb blast matters.