Gujarat rights panel chief Justice Thaker says he was shifted to Allahabad HC in 2016 for ‘speaking his mind’

Introducing Justice Thaker, academic and writer Payal Mehta said, “Every justice takes an oath that decisions and judgments will be without fear or favour. Justice Thaker is the living example of that…and till date people are praising him that he has delivered all his judgments without fear or favour.”

Justice Thaker said in his inaugural address, “I have spoken without fear, that is why I was transferred to Allahabad. That’s a different story…Why should even after Independence we only talk about Greek philosophers. Why? Why talk about Aristotle, Plato, why not talk of Sarabhais…why not talk about people who have given much to the world (like) Kautilya. You go to ancient history. Why not go to a present philosopher…the only person who has been able to request a government where following (to follow) Hinduism, or what you call ‘Sanatan’…see what is literature? It is a morsel of thought which passes through your mind…comes back through your mouth.”

Referring to literature as being the ‘Google’ of the contemporary times, Justice Thaker said, “Literature means thoughts, writings of the people who have evolved certain ideas. For example, I would call Kautilya’s Arthashastra as literature. It gives you everything, it is ‘Google’ of those days, if you perceive it in that sense. Go by the Quran, it is the ‘Google’ of those days, everything is there. Go by (the Bhagavad) Gita, today also it has its own relevance. This is literature.”

Complimenting retired IAS officer SK Nanda, who has been associated with the literature festival for several editions, on the choice of theme this year–literature and human development–Justice Thaker added, “I am thankful to Dr Nanda that he has given us this theme which will take you a long way. Development, yes of course there is development, but are we environmentally-savvy? Are we developed environmentally? If anyone says yes I will bow down and quit my studies.”

Justice Thaker is pursuing a postdoctoral degree from National Forensic Science University under the supervision of its vice-chancellor, Padma Shri awardee JM Vyas.

Justice Thaker continued, “Under the guise of development, we are the third most polluted country of the world. And therefore for our better development, this literature should go (pass on to) children…Your thought process can be bettered by your reading of the literature, whether on Kindle or books. You have to enrich yourself, not by junk-reading, what I call ‘fast food’ of reading…The thought process is what is important for our development and that is what literature gives you. Literature is not only confined to arts or Shakespeare. Dr SK Nanda’s book can be literature for you…”

Justice Thaker’s remark follows those of three high court judges who recently criticised their transfers by the Supreme Court collegium. In his farewell speech on Tuesday, Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker raised questions on his transfer from the Chhattisgarh High Court to Allahabad in 2018. A day before that, Justice Bibek Chaudhuri of the Calcutta High Court, who had been transferred to the Patna High Court, compared his transfer to the Emergency-era mass transfers of judges, in his farewell speech. In an interview to The Indian Express on Wednesday, Justice Sanjib Banerjee, said that the NV Ramana-led collegium did not inform him of the reasons for his abrupt transfer as Chief Justice of Madras High Court in 2021.