“The greatest strength of the judiciary is people’s faith in it,” Judge Ramana said. (File)
New Delhi:
The oldest Supreme Court judge, Justice NV Ramana, said that the greatest strength of the judiciary is the people’s faith in it and that judges must be “steadfast in their respect for their principles” and “without fear in their decisions “to resist all pressures and chances.
Judge Ramana’s comments are significant in the context of a recent unprecedented decision by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, to make allegations against him in a letter to the judge in head of India, SA Bobde.
Speaking at a condolence meeting on Saturday for former Supreme Court Justice AR Lakshmanan, who died on August 27, Judge Ramana said: “The greatest strength of the judiciary is people’s faith in it. Faith, trust and acceptability cannot be commanded, they must be earned ”.
Judge Ramana’s remarks at a public ceremony are the first since controversy erupted after the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh wrote the letter.
The Senior Judge added that “there are countless qualities that a person needs to live what can be called a good life: humility, patience, kindness, a strong work ethic and enthusiasm to learn and improve constantly ”.
“Most importantly, especially for a judge, one must be firm in his principles and fearless in his decisions. It is an important quality for a judge to resist all pressures and difficulties and to stand up courageously against all obstacles, ”he told me.
Recalling the former judge, Judge Ramana said: “We must all be inspired by his words and strive to create a vibrant and independent judiciary, which is necessary at the present time.”
He said his belief is that Judge Lakshmanan embodied all the qualities required to be one of the best judges the country has seen.
Judge Ramana said: “Our values are ultimately our greatest wealth, and we must never forget the same” and added that Judge Lakshmanan wears his values on his sleeves and has learned so much from him. to be a good person and a judge.
Justice Lakshmanan, originally from Tamil Nadu, was appointed a permanent judge of the Madras High Court in 1990 and he became Chief Justice of the High Court of Rajasthan and also served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh .
He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2002 and served until his retirement pension in 2007.
During his tenure as a Supreme Court justice, Justice Lakshmanan served on several benches in the Constitution and contributed to over 200 judgments dealing with a wide variety of issues, including taxation, the management of religious institutions. , service issues, labor law and employee welfare.
After his retirement, he was appointed Chairman of the 18th Law Commission of India and submitted 32 detailed reports to the Indian government recommending various measures to improve the country’s judicial system.
Several lawyers’ bodies across the country, including the Bar Council of India, the Supreme Court Bar Association, the Supreme Court Lawyers Association (SCAORA), and the Bar Association of the Delhi High Court, condemned the act of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh of writing the “unwarranted” letter to the Chief Justice making allegations against the sitting trial judge.
In an unprecedented move, the chief minister wrote the October 6 letter to CJI, alleging that the High Court of Andhra Pradesh was being used to “destabilize and overthrow my democratically elected government”.
He asked the CJI to look into the matter and consider taking measures “deemed appropriate and appropriate to ensure the maintenance of the neutrality of the state justice”.
The chief minister alleged that the highest court judge was close to TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and that a “former honorable Supreme Court judge put this fact on the record.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
