On last day, Justice Chelameswar shares SC bench with Chief Justice

NEW DELHI: Justice Jasti Chelameswar did sit with Chief Justice Dipak Misra on his last working day in court, belying theories that he would not, given the fraught relations between the senior-most and the second senior-most judges in the Supreme Court. He was also praised for “doing a great job in upholding democracy.” It is a custom for every retiring judge to sit with the CJI on his last working day.

The three-judge bench presided over by CJI Misra spent less than half an hour before it finished the day’s work. Only 11 matters were listed for hearing. As the bench was about to rise, senior advocate Rajiv Dutta thanked Chelameswar, saying he “upheld the ideals of democracy” as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan also thanked him for his services, saying he “did a great job in upholding democracy”.

Justice Chelameswar made the headlines in January, when he and three other judges of the Supreme Court went public with their grievances against the CJI, who they said was allocating important cases to junior judges.

Bhushan’s father, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan, had on Thursday compared Justice Chelameswar with Justice HR Khanna, whose tenure as a judge of the SC also ended in courtroom number 2. The former Union law minister said that judges like Justice Chelameswar and Justice Khanna would be remembered more than some judges who have presided over the CJI’s court, courtroom number 1.

Advocate Gopal Shankarnarayan thanked Justice Chelameswar for his grace and admired him for being patient towards junior members of the bar.

There was no member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to address the judge on his last working day. SCBA’s president and vice president were not present in the court even as it was full with lawyers who had gathered to bid adieu to the judge.

Justice Chelameswar, who retires on June 22, turned down SCBA’s request to hold a farewell function for him. Since the Supreme Court closes for summer vacations on Monday, Friday was technically Justice Chelameswar’s last day in office.

Justice Chelameswar rose and, with folded hands, said: “It’s my only response.”

HT FILE/ARVIND YADAV Justice Jasti Chelameswar (right) during the press conference in January. On his last day at work in the SC on Friday, his final gesture to those who praised his tenure was his folded hands. ‘It’s my only response,’ he told the gathering at the...