{"id":292741,"date":"2023-05-20T17:30:13","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=292741"},"modified":"2023-05-22T09:27:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T03:57:07","slug":"supreme-court-of-india-bids-farewell-to-three-judges-legal-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.scconline.gen.in\/post\/2023\/05\/20\/supreme-court-of-india-bids-farewell-to-three-judges-legal-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Shayaris, Memories and Blessings- When Supreme Court bid farewell to Justice K.M Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice V. Ramasubramanian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

19th<\/span> May 2023 was a bittersweet day for the Supreme Court of India; a “circle of life<\/i>” moment where in the morning 2 new Judges were inducted<\/a> into the folds of the Court and in the evening, the Bar and the Bench gathered to bid adieu 3 senior Judges- Justice K.M. Joseph<\/a>, Justice Ajay Rastogi<\/a> and Justice V. Ramasubramanian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A farewell function was organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association1<\/sup><\/a> on 19-05-2023, which was attended by the Chief Justice of India, Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, the retiring Judges, Executive Committee of the SCBA and other esteemed dignitaries. Given the fact that the summer vacations of the Supreme Court will be from 22-05-2023 till 02-07-20232<\/sup><\/a>, and the Judges will be officially retiring in June (within the duration of the vacation),<\/p>\n

The farewell function organised by the SCBA was a mixture of solemnity and joviality. While there was nostalgia about shared memories, there were also occasions when the speakers chose more poetic ways to convey their sadness to bid adieu to the Judges.<\/p>\n

Addressing the gathering, newly elected SCBA President, Mr Adhish Aggarwala recounted occasions when precious advice was given to the members of the Bar by the retiring Judges. Expressing his sadness over starting his tenure as the new President by bidding farewell to the three senior Judges, Mr Aggarwala recited a ‘sher<\/i>' (couplet) by Mirza Ghalib<\/p>\n

“Hame pata hai tum kahin aur ke mehmaan ho,<\/p>\n

Hamara sheher toh bas yun hi raaste me aa gaya tha”<\/p>\n

Chief Justice of India, Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, who also addressed the gathering, fondly reminisced his experiences with the retiring Judges and their tenure and thanked them for their immense contribution towards nation building. Before departing from the dais, he recited an Irish Blessing of a Younger Brother for the Judges-<\/p>\n

“May the Road rise up to meet you,<\/p>\n

May the Wind be always at you back,<\/p>\n

May the Sun shines warm upon your face,<\/p>\n

The Rains fall soft upon your feels,<\/p>\n

and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand”.<\/p>\n

The Retiring Judges and Their Legacy<\/p>\n

Justice Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph- “Rule of Law Personified”<\/p>\n

Justice K.M. Joseph was born on 17-06-1958 to former Supreme Court Judge, Justice K.K. Mathew. Having enrolled in the Bar and starting his practice in 1982 in Delhi High Court and later shifted to Kerala High Court. Justice K.M. Joseph went on to become a Permanent Judge in the very same High Court in 2004 and later Chief Justice of Uttaranchal High Court in 2014. He was later elevated<\/a> to the Supreme Court in 2018. <\/p>\n

At the SCBA Farewell function, newly elected SCBA Vice- President, Mr. Sukumar Pattjoshi highlighted the contributions of Justice K.M. Joseph. Terming Justice Joseph to be “Rule of Law personified<\/i>”, Mr. Pattjoshi recounted that Justice K.M. Joseph puts emphasis that the Bar should not only work for welfare of their brethren, but they should also contribute towards nation building and upholding the Rule of Law. He also recalled Justice K.M. Joseph's love for music and philosophy3<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taking the dais, Chief Justice, Dr. DY Chandrachud stated that how he and Justice KM Joseph have been friends for 51 years and how well they know each other's thoughts. Justice Chandrachud revealed that Justice KM Joseph is a “football maestro<\/i>”, and went on to state some of his favourite judgments by the retiring Judge.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Justice Chandrachud in his eloquent words, celebrated the simple living and high thinking of a Judge who once turned up to the Kerala High Court on a bicycle and whose “knowledge on varied subjects shines through, not only on the Bench but off of it.<\/i>”<\/p>\n

Justice K.M. Joseph is known to uphold the constitutional principles as well as principles of social equality in his judgments. The reasonings provided by Justice K.M. Joseph has only enriched one's understanding of the nitty-gritties of law and society.<\/p>\n

Justice K.M. Joseph has authored around 100+ Judgments so far.<\/p>\n

Recent Notable Decisions<\/p>\n

An Independent Election Commission of India as envisioned by Supreme Court's Constitution Bench<\/p>\n

The 5-judge Constitution Bench of K.M. Joseph*, Ajay Rastogi**<\/span>, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and C.T. Ravikumar, JJ., in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India<\/span>, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 216<\/a>, has settled the dispute revolving around appointment of members of the Election Commission of India (ECI)<\/a> and has held that the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners shall appointed by the President on the advice of a 3-member committee consisting of: <\/p>\n