New Delhi/May, 6: Justice Deepak Gupta became the first Supreme Court judge to get a “virtual” send off on Wednesday with the Supreme Court Bar Association organising a “Zoom party” to bid him farewell during COVID19 lockdown.
In his farewell address, Justice Gupta asserted that there was no alternative to a fearless and independent judiciary in a country which professed to be follower of rule of law and separation of powers.
“When a judge sits in the court… we have to forget our religious beliefs and decide cases only on the basis of our Constitution. The Constitution is our Bible, Quran, Geeta, Guru Granth Sahib and other religious books,” Justice Gupta said in a virtual farewell function via video conferencing.
The function was attended by CJI SA Bobde, several judges, Attorney General KK Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, SCBA President Dushyant Dave and and a large number of advocates.
“Today as I hang up my robes after 42 years in the profession, I have enjoyed each and every moment of it. Though I end relationship with court, my relationship with Bar can never end,” said Justice Gupta who was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2017.
Though I am sad for leaving the profession, I am happy that I will have more time for my family and myself. I will get some time to read and pursue hobbies. I will also get to earn some more money than I do as a judge,” he said.
Justice Gupta thanked his father for inculcating reading habit in him. “It’s only because of reading that I reached where I am. After my father passed away, it was my mother who gave us everything we needed for an elegant upbringing,” he said.
Justice Gupta also thanked his wife for being a pillar of strength for him.
“I have been called an activist judge or lawyer, I never stepped out of the boundaries…I never broke it,” Justice Gupta said.
However, he said a humane and compassionate judiciary was the need of the hour.
“Scales of justice can’t be equal when apples and oranges are measured together. Persons dispensing justice in times like these need to weigh justice in favour of the poor and downtrodden. Bar members should take up some pro bono work,” Justice Gupta said thanking the Bar for extending “a lot of cooperation” to him.
Venugopal described him as the first judge to come out so strongly and openly in defence of dissent. “It should have been said earlier. Your thoughts that citizen has a right to protest in a peaceful manner will never be forgotten. A very bold statement to make for a sitting judge,” the AG said.
“You are a young man and your health will permit to be a judge for the next 15 years. A judge to leave his office now at the age of 65 is unfair,” Venugopal said pitching for increasing the age of judges’ retirement.
Dave expressed gratitude on behalf of the Bar. “Your departure creates a void…the Bar and Bench is eternally grateful to you,” he said.
