First published nearly fifty years ago in 1962, it’s been out of print for several decades. Those who have a copy do not lend it. Now, with an introduction by Soli Sorabjee, P B Vaccha’s marvellous book, Famous Judges, Lawyers & Cases of Bombay has been republished by Universal Law Publishing and will be released next week.

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Mr Justice Mohit Shah, will release the book on Friday, 15 April 2011 at a special function to be held in the Central Court. The Hon’ble Mr Justice S. P. Bharucha, former Chief Justice of India, is the Chief Guest. Mr Soli Sorabjee will introduce the book. The function will be held at 5:30 pm and is open to all.

About the book

Described as a “judicial history of Bombay during the British Period”, Vaccha’s book is more than a mere re-telling of legends of the Bombay High Court. In the first four chapters, he traces the development and growth of the judiciary in Bombay from 1672 to the establishment of the High Court 210 years laters. He then looks at the next eight decades of the Bombay Court. The chapter on historical cases still makes compelling reading, particularly the sections on the three Tilak trials (the postscript to the last of which created a controversy when the book was first released).