Judges can’t change world but do duty for justice: CJI at farewell

“We cannot change the world as judges,” Justice Kapadia said in his advice to fellow judges,in the farewell address on the Supreme Court lawns. “If you have done your duty towards dispensation of justice in accordance with the Constitution,you have served the country.”

Noting that Justice Kapadia had listed “integrity” as his only asset in a LETTER to former supreme court judge V R Krishna Iyer,his successor and CJI-designate Justice Altamas Kabir said: “He also has immense wisdom and a kind of self-discipline that was not liked by many but he stood by what he decided and thought was correct.”

As Justice Kabir described him as a “replica of Abraham Lincoln”,Justice Kapadia recalled how his father,an electrician who had been born in an orphanage,had taught him that the best thing one could achieve was do their duty. He started as a Class IV employee,going to college in the morning without anything to eat and working late hours,the CJI said,recalling that his fortune changed when his employer’s secretary fell sick and he ended up giving a brief to a lawyer.

Addressing a gathering comprising fellow judges,senior law officers,including Attorney General G E Vahanvati,Supreme Court Bar Association members and several young lawyers,the CJI said that even as he started getting ancillary legal works,he would visit the Bombay High Court to listen to senior counsel like Fali S Nariman and Soli Sorabji argue.

“This is the kind of dedication young lawyers need. Sitting in courts for five minutes will not help,” Kapadia told young lawyers.

The CJI had later joined law firm Gagrat & Co as a clerk and gone on to work with Feroze Damania,a highly respected “firebrand” labour lawyer.

In a lighter vein,Justice Kapadia remarked how after he had been appointed Additional Judge of the Bombay HC in 1991 and gained a reputation for never taking leave,lawyers had felt he was mad for attending office even with a fractured leg.

He also thanked his wife for “agreeing to marry him” when he had only Rs 2,000 in his bank account and said she had made him what he was now. “In Parsis,we respect our wives. A country with respect for women can only grow. It’s also because of my wife that I have never missed a day in office,” he said.

Calling himself a “believer”,Justice Kapadia added that he believed that “we are no doers but opportunities are given to us to do something”.

He also told fellow judges to always bear in mind discipline,professionalism and judicial reticence. “Please remember that a very important medicine in the time of trouble is that you do what you are obligated to do. Our judges need professionalism,objectivity,judicial reticence and knowledge which is more subtle than intellect,” Justice Kapadia said