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A judge’s role is not to please people, but…: Justice Hemant Gupta
Justice Gupta demits office on October 16 after a tenure of almost four years in the top court. His last working day was on Friday.
A judge’s role is not to please people but to decide cases as per law, justice Hemant Gupta said on Friday, as he bid adieu to the Supreme Court.
Justice Gupta demits office on October 16 after a tenure of almost four years in the top court. His last working day was on Friday.
Delivering his farewell speech at an event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), justice Gupta said: “A judge cannot make people happy… that’s not the role assigned to him. That role is assigned to other people in public life. One cannot discharge this role with the intention of pleasing people. I was harsh in court, blunt. But whatever orders were warranted as per my understanding were passed.”
According to justice Gupta, he was hanging up his boots with an inner satisfaction that he could give the best to the institution. “I have no regrets. I have tried my best to discharge my duties with utmost humility and sincerity, though sometimes I lose my cool. No one is perfect. I cannot stake any claim to perfection. In my shortcomings, when I erred, it’s been unintentional,” he added.
Justice Gupta said he was satisfied for having performed to the best of his abilities – without fear or favour – any role that was assigned to him.
Justice Gupta was elevated to the Supreme Court in November 2018. Before that, he was the chief justice of Madhya Pradesh high court. He was appointed as a judge in Punjab and Haryana high court in 2002.
He was leading the bench which delivered a split verdict in Karnataka’s hijab row cases on Thursday. Justice Gupta affirmed the ban saying religious belief cannot be carried to a secular school maintained out of state funds. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia wrote a dissenting judgment.
Talking about justice Gupta, Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit fondly recalled how he appeared before the former as a lawyer about 12 years back and was surprised by the thoroughness of justice Gupta.
“He is far greater than any of us, including me. Whatever he has done, any judgment would be ready in two weeks. He is a man who would find time to write judgments immediately. Twenty years of hard work means a lot. He will always be with us through his contribution but let him have some time with his family and his favourite sport golf,” the CJI said.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and SCBA president Vikas Singh also spoke at the event.
