Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud recently said he has extensively consulted all the judges of the Supreme Court — and not just the collegium — in all the appointments that have been made.
“So everyone who comes to the Supreme Court and has come to the Supreme Court in the recent past commands the respect and affection and a sense of belonging of all the judges of the Supreme Court,” said the CJI.
The CJI made this remark while speaking at the felicitation function held in honour of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan, who have been newly appointed as judges of the Supreme Court.
“We must accept the fact that the government is also a stakeholder in the process and in these appointments which have come through in less than 72 hours after the names were recommended. I think we have sent the nation a message that the collegium is vibrant, active and committed to its task,” the CJI said, speaking at the Supreme Court Bar Association’s function.
CJI Chandrachud further noted that the two recent appointees who had come to the bench brought together with them a tradition of continuity and a freshness of ideas.
“They have been deeply associated with the profession until a short while ago. Members who come from the district court to the high court, and from the high court to the Supreme Court, are bringing a tradition of continuity. Both are equally important for the survival of the institution. For example, before being elevated to the Supreme Court, I was at the high court for 16 years and the constant challenge for people like me who have been a judge for so long is to not get overwhelmed by being a part of the system. Members of the bar, on the other hand, who come to hold high judiciary positions have the drive, they have the initiatives because they have been face-to-face with realities of this life, right from the point of time when they were appointed…,” the CJI said.
Speaking about his brother judge, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, the CJI said he belonged to Raigarh in Chhattisgarh which is known as the cultural city of the state.
“Chhattisgarh itself has a tribal population of almost 32 per cent and Raigarh is in so many ways its tribal seat. Brother Mishra studied in a municipal primary school so he began his life with very humble origins which is again a reminder of the fact that the judges who come to the Supreme Court are deeply connected with social reality in India. He is the first judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court from the Chhattisgarh High Court. So, in that sense, brother Mishra signifies the yearning of a comparatively new state.
“He inspires members of the younger generation who can follow his footsteps, so his appointment must not be just looked at from the perspective of the success of a professional who has risen to occupy the office of a judge of the highest court of the land, but in terms of laying in his footprints The formula of success for others who will follow in his path”, the CJI added.
About Justice Viswanathan, CJI opined that he has been an idol and a mentor to young members of the Bar. “His life and his journey in so many ways is an ideal because it shows that someone who came from afar from Coimbatore and Ooty to set a practice in faraway Delhi in those days must realise that that was not 2023…Above all, I think he has contributed to building a team of young lawyers.
“The value of a leader is always judged not in just terms of work which he has done, but in terms of building a team which he leaves behind after he has left that part or chapter of his life. It is this ability of Justice Viswanathan, and I daresay of Justice Narasimha also, two distinguished members drawn from the Bar, that really sets them apart in terms of what they have left behind in the bar, young band of lawyers that they have trained, and who will carry the baton which they have given over.”
Looking at Justice Viswanathan personally, the CJI said his image as a lawyer indicates that being brash and ostentatious are not the hallmarks for success in the Supreme Court.
“If at all, he is the very anti-thesis of being brash and ostentatious. So understated in his elegance and so simple in his approach, and yet so successful. He has been an amicus curiae in so many different cases, he has been a source associated with academic areas of law, which shows that he’s interested, not just in his daily briefs. He has had the strength of character to stand by the court when there are been attacks on our independence…,” CJI said in his address.
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