Tag: supreme court judge

  • ‘I’m not a person to retire, will start new innings’: SC judge MR Shah breaks down on last day in court

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Fourth senior-most Supreme Court judge Justice M R Shah on Monday got emotional in the courtroom on his last day in office, saying he is not a person to retire and will start a new inning in life.

    Sitting on the ceremonial bench presided over by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Shah broke down at the end of his address and quoted lines from Raj Kapoor’s iconic song “jeena yaha, marna yaha”.

    “I am not a person to retire and I am going to start a new inning of my life. I am praying to the almighty God to give me strength and courage and good health to play the new inning,” said Justice Shah.

    “Before parting, I would like to remember a song by Raj Kapoor “kal khel me hum ho na ho, gardish me tare rahenge sada,” he said choking with emotions.

    With the retirement of Justice Shah, who was appointed to the top court on November 2, 2018, the number of judges in the top court will now come down to 32, including the CJI.

    A day before, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari demitted the office.

    The apex court has the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

    Heading the ceremonial bench, set up to bid farewell to Justice Shah, the CJI fondly recalled his association with the retiring judge.

    “My association with Justice Shah goes back to a long-long time when I was the Additional Solicitor General of India and we renewed our friendship when he came to the Supreme Court. We sat together during the most difficult times, that is during the Covid times. I will say some lighter things in the evening when I am liberated from presiding over this solemn occasion as the CJI. I will then speak to all of you as a friend of Justice Shah in the evening,” the CJI said.

    He said it was a “true pleasure to sit with Justice M R Shah” and deal with all types of cases at the bench.

    “He (Shah) is always ready for the challenge and even during Covid times, I found that when we were sitting in our respective homes and we were taking on some heavy matters, he was always ready for a challenge. He was never the one who shirks work. If I send him a judgement, the judgement will come back overnight with his annotations and be completely read. If I send him a judgement for him to draft as a senior colleague, likewise, the judgement will be on my table within 48 hours,” Justice Chandrachud said.

    Nothing was kept pending by Justice Shah, the CJI said, adding that he is “a true friend and an enabled ally and support in the collegium”.

    “In so many ways, I relied upon his very worldly knowledge of the legal professions, of our district judiciary and of our high courts because he served in Gujarat and in Patna as the Chief Justice,” Justice Chandrachud said.

    Justice Shah thanked members of the bar and SC officials and his support staff for helping him serve as the top court judge.

    “I do not know if I deserve it or not but I accept it as a parting gift,” Justice Shah said.

    “During my tenure, if I have hurt anyone’s feelings, I extend my unconditional apology. It was not deliberate. I always treated my work as worship. I am overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by you. I am thankful to all members of the bar and the registry. I am also thankful to my support staff and residence staff,” he said.

    Bar leaders, including Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and others wished Justice Shah on his last day on the bench. “I have known My lord as a judge and as a lawyer too, he is one of the few brave judges that I have known. The number of judgements which you have written shows that your family has suffered the most, and now they must get the benefit of your time,” Mehta said.

    Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said he has known Justice Shah for quite a long time and he is fearless just like a lawyer.

    Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah was born on May 16, 1958, and enrolled as an advocate on July 19, 1982.

    He practiced in the Gujarat High Court, specialising in land, constitutional and education matters.

    He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004, and appointed as Permanent Judge on June 22, 2005.

    He was appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on August 12, 2018.

    He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on November 2, 2018, and is retiring on May 15, 2023.

    NEW DELHI: Fourth senior-most Supreme Court judge Justice M R Shah on Monday got emotional in the courtroom on his last day in office, saying he is not a person to retire and will start a new inning in life.

    Sitting on the ceremonial bench presided over by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Shah broke down at the end of his address and quoted lines from Raj Kapoor’s iconic song “jeena yaha, marna yaha”.

    “I am not a person to retire and I am going to start a new inning of my life. I am praying to the almighty God to give me strength and courage and good health to play the new inning,” said Justice Shah.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Before parting, I would like to remember a song by Raj Kapoor “kal khel me hum ho na ho, gardish me tare rahenge sada,” he said choking with emotions.

    With the retirement of Justice Shah, who was appointed to the top court on November 2, 2018, the number of judges in the top court will now come down to 32, including the CJI.

    A day before, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari demitted the office.

    The apex court has the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

    Heading the ceremonial bench, set up to bid farewell to Justice Shah, the CJI fondly recalled his association with the retiring judge.

    “My association with Justice Shah goes back to a long-long time when I was the Additional Solicitor General of India and we renewed our friendship when he came to the Supreme Court. We sat together during the most difficult times, that is during the Covid times. I will say some lighter things in the evening when I am liberated from presiding over this solemn occasion as the CJI. I will then speak to all of you as a friend of Justice Shah in the evening,” the CJI said.

    He said it was a “true pleasure to sit with Justice M R Shah” and deal with all types of cases at the bench.

    “He (Shah) is always ready for the challenge and even during Covid times, I found that when we were sitting in our respective homes and we were taking on some heavy matters, he was always ready for a challenge. He was never the one who shirks work. If I send him a judgement, the judgement will come back overnight with his annotations and be completely read. If I send him a judgement for him to draft as a senior colleague, likewise, the judgement will be on my table within 48 hours,” Justice Chandrachud said.

    Nothing was kept pending by Justice Shah, the CJI said, adding that he is “a true friend and an enabled ally and support in the collegium”.

    “In so many ways, I relied upon his very worldly knowledge of the legal professions, of our district judiciary and of our high courts because he served in Gujarat and in Patna as the Chief Justice,” Justice Chandrachud said.

    Justice Shah thanked members of the bar and SC officials and his support staff for helping him serve as the top court judge.

    “I do not know if I deserve it or not but I accept it as a parting gift,” Justice Shah said.

    “During my tenure, if I have hurt anyone’s feelings, I extend my unconditional apology. It was not deliberate. I always treated my work as worship. I am overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by you. I am thankful to all members of the bar and the registry. I am also thankful to my support staff and residence staff,” he said.

    Bar leaders, including Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and others wished Justice Shah on his last day on the bench. “I have known My lord as a judge and as a lawyer too, he is one of the few brave judges that I have known. The number of judgements which you have written shows that your family has suffered the most, and now they must get the benefit of your time,” Mehta said.

    Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said he has known Justice Shah for quite a long time and he is fearless just like a lawyer.

    Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah was born on May 16, 1958, and enrolled as an advocate on July 19, 1982.

    He practiced in the Gujarat High Court, specialising in land, constitutional and education matters.

    He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004, and appointed as Permanent Judge on June 22, 2005.

    He was appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on August 12, 2018.

    He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on November 2, 2018, and is retiring on May 15, 2023.

  • CBI arrests five people for posting defamatory content against judges

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested five people for allegedly posting defamatory content against judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court on social media, officials said on Sunday.

    The role of a Lok Sabha member, Nandigam Suresh, and Amanchi Krishna Mohan, both of the YSR Congress, are under scanner in the case, and both have been examined by the agency in its effort to unearth a larger conspiracy, they said.

    “To investigate the larger conspiracy, the CBI has also examined certain persons, including an MP, ex-MLA and also continued investigation into the role of other persons who were not mentioned in the FIR,” CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.

    The agency had on Saturday arrested two people — Pattapu Aadarsh and Lavanuru Samba Siva Reddy — from Andhra Pradesh.

    Earlier, the CBI had arrested Dhami Reddy Konda Reddy and Pamula Sudheer on July 28, while Lingareddy Rajasekhar Reddy, who was residing in Kuwait, was arrested on July 9 when he landed in India, the officials said.

    “The agency was monitoring his movements. The moment he landed in India, the officers took him into their custody”, an official said.

    The arrests were made by the CBI in the case in which it had booked 16 individuals for allegedly posting defamatory content against the judges.

    The Andhra Pradesh High Court had directed the agency to probe the case and submit a report to it in a sealed cover.

    “It was alleged that the accused, by intentionally targeting the judiciary, made derogatory posts on social media platforms against judges and judiciary, following some court verdicts delivered by the judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,” Joshi said.

     

  • Narendra Modi a popular, loved, visionary leader: Another SC judge praises PM

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  In another instance of a Supreme Court judge praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an open forum, Justice M R Shah described the PM as a “popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader.”

    Speaking at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Gujarat high court on Saturday, which was attended by Modi also, Justice Shah said: “I am glad and feel proud and privileged to participate in this important function of release of the commemorative stamp of Gujarat high court and that too by our most popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader, honourable Prime Minister Narendabhai Modi. I consider it a very special privilege to be part of this function.”

    This is not the first time Justice Shah has praised the PM. In 2019, Justice Shah, while being sworn as the chief justice of the Patna high court, had termed Modi as a model and a hero.

    Justice Shah was not the only one to lavish praise on Modi at the function. Gujarat high court chief justice Vikram Nath also said the PM was highly popular because of his commitment to the country.

    “His uprightness in taking up the responsibilities has played an important role in the rise of his popularity. While taking up the duty towards nation, he has also fulfilled the pledge towards a secure world,” Justice Nath said.

    Last year, another Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Mishra, now retired, had raised eyebrows after he described Modi as an “internationally acclaimed visionary and a versatile genius who thinks globally and acts locally.”

    Legal experts expressed reservation over sitting judges openly praising members of the political executive, saying the conduct of judges must be in consonance with institutional ethics.

    They said as the judiciary was the final arbiter of legality and constitutionality of the executive’s actions, such statements do not bring credit to the institution.

    “When CJI M N Venktachaliah was sworn in, Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in his welcome speech hoped for a cordial relationship between the judiciary and the government. Prompt came the response that the relationship has to be correct and not cordial,” senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde said.

    Hegde said Justice Shah’s comments were more cordial than correct. 

    ‘Judiciary and executive are independent’

    “IT reminds me of an effusive letter written by the late Justice P N Bhagwati to Ms Indira Gandhi on her return to power. In those days, he was criticised for the letter. The wall of separation between the government and the judiciary must be maintained at all times.”

    Echoing the same sentiments, Supreme Court lawyer Shwetank Sailakwal said the “judiciary and the executive are independent and function within a framework as provided under the constitution. Beyond that any relationship, be it cozy or otherwise, should not be all owe dina healthy democracy.”

    “The conduct of each individual judge must be in consonance with institutional ethics. A judge should not engage in any conduct which could blur the impression of the judiciary as an institution of checks and balances,” said another senior lawyer.