The outgoing Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra held court, along with his successor Ranjan Gogoi, for the last time on Monday, 1 October.
Delivering his farewell speech, Misra began by saying he did not ask others to “hold their tongues”, but only asked them to allow him a chance to speak.
He further said he did not judge people by history but by their perspectives.
Lauding the “collective wisdom of the youth”, Misra said he considered himself one among them. Further praising the Indian judiciary for it ability to handle a number of cases, Misra said:
He also called for a balanced delivery of justice, warning against aggressive views.
Misra also commended the judges in the system, lauding them for upholding the law time and again.
Signing off, Misra thanked the Bar, stating that he was indebted to them and was leaving a ‘satisfied man’.
CJI-Designate Ranjan Gogoi Addresses Event
Meanwhile, addressing the event, CJI-designate Gogoi said he had a lot to look forward to, while praising his predecessor as a ‘remarkable judge’.
He has upheld the freedom of an individual to choose and express choice. Cases like Shakti Vahini, Shafin Jahan and Navtej Johar involved individual’s liberty to choose his choice in form of partner whom society doesn’t approve.
At his farewell ceremony, Misra was seen seated alongside Gogoi and Attorney General KK Venugopal.
‘I Will Speak From My Mind’: CJI Misra Sets Stage for Farewell Event
Earlier in the day during court proceedings, he stopped a lawyer who broke into song to wish him a long life to say that at the moment, he was "responding from the heart" but will speak from his mind in the evening.
CJI Misra, who presided over benches that delivered a series of key verdicts – including on Aadhaar and Section 377 that criminalised homosexuality during the last month – appeared emotional during the brief court proceedings, that lasted about 25 minutes.
The chief justice, in his inimitable style, stopped a lawyer who had started singing at the fag end of the proceedings.
"Tum jiyo hazaron saal..." the lawyer crooned, singing the opening lines of a Hindi film song from the late 1950s, usually played on birthdays.
CJI Misra immediately stopped him and said, “Presently, I am responding from my heart. I will respond from my mind in the evening.”
Justice Gogoi – who will take over the baton from CJI Misra on 3 October – and Justice AM Khanwilkar, were sitting on the bench, which said it will hear no urgent mentioning of matters on Monday and added that the matter could be heard later on 3 October by the bench headed by the next CJI.
Following that, in a strange turn of events, lawyer RP Luthra mentioned two alleged controversial tweets by senior lawyer Indira Jaising and advocate Prashant Bhushan against the outgoing CJI, criticising his recent judgements, including the verdict in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
He urged the court to take cognisance of the alleged controversial tweets. But the bench didn't respond after perusing the tweets.
CJI Misra has headed various benches of different combinations, and delivered several verdicts in the recent past.
These include upholding the Centre’s flagship scheme Aadhaar with certain riders and decriminalising consensual gay sex and adultery.
The verdicts also include judgments in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case and allowing all women entry into the Sabarimala temple.
CJI Misra was appointed additional judge of the Orissa High Court on 17 January 1996, before his transfer to the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He became a permanent judge on 19 December 1997.
He assumed charge of the office of chief justice of Patna High Court on 23 December 2009, and became chief justice of the Delhi High Court on 24 May 2010.
He was elevated as a judge of the apex court on 10 October 2011 and became the Chief Justice of India on 28 August 2017.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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